General Practitioners (Hansard, 6 July 2004)

§ 8. Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central) (Lab)
What initiatives are in place to encourage the retention of general practitioners in inner-city areas. [182188]

§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)
The Government are committed to increasing the number of GPs working in under-doctored areas, which include many inner-city practices. A range of measures have been put in place to achieve that, including the allocation of extra training places and payments of up to £12,000 for GPs beginning their careers in those areas.

§ Tony Lloyd
Obviously, my right hon. Friend's answer is very helpful, but may I draw his attention to the specific problem of population change in the inner cities? There has been a very rapid decline in some areas, and in others—such as the centre of my city of Manchester—the increase has been extremely rapid. A decline in population places a significant strain on GPs in financial terms, while a rise poses difficulties in terms of patient numbers. I hope that my right hon. Friend looks very seriously at the problem. The rapid population growth in the centre of Manchester is a major issue. We need more GP services to serve the new 679 population. The problem is not unique to Manchester but is apparent in other cities, such as Birmingham and Leicester, where the Government's many achievements are already celebrated. However, people are listening to the debate on this matter.

§ Mr. Hutton
I very strongly agree with my hon. Friend. Central Manchester's population is booming because of the significant success of local regeneration schemes. I agree too that there is a need to ensure that primary care trust funding allocations keep abreast of population changes. I accept his criticism that that may not always have happened in the past. That is why we are looking very carefully at the problem that he highlights as part of the next wave of allocations to PCTs, and I am sure that he will agree that it is a priority.

§ Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire) (Con)
The Minister will know that GP retirements are concentrated in inner-city practices run by a single doctor—and especially in practices where the retired doctor was Asian. The Government have promised some 2,000 more GPs, but have not specified that they will all work full-time. The British Medical Association says that we need an extra 10,000 GPs. How do the Government intend to square that circle?

§ Mr. Hutton
I hope that the hon. Gentleman at least will welcome the fact that 2,000 more GPs are working in the NHS—but perhaps he was coming to that. There has been a significant increase in the number of whole-time equivalents as well. We need to continue the investment and to support PCTs in using a variety of mechanisms to expand the GP work force. The hon. Gentleman's strictures today would have had more credibility if he and his party had any plans to increase the size of the primary care work force. Sadly, they do not.

§ Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton) (Lab)
On the question of retaining GPs in inner-city areas, will my right hon. Friend take into consideration the problems that arise in urban areas? When two GPs left a practice in my constituency, the withdrawal of the satellite service caused much inconvenience for people. Is there any incentive to encourage doctors to work in urban areas? The PCT has done all it can to fill the vacancies, but more assistance is needed.

§ Mr. Hutton
Again, I agree with my hon. Friend that there remain parts of primary care in England that experience difficulties in recruiting more GPs, and he referred to problems in his area. In my earlier answer, I set out some of the incentives that we have put in place, but I can tell the House that we are looking at ways to increase them further. I hope to make an announcement on that very shortly.

§ 9. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con)
If he will make a statement on the implementation of the new general practitioner contract. [182190]

§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)
The new primary care contract was approved overwhelmingly by a ballot of general 680 practitioners, and is being implemented successfully. All but five practices working under general medical services arrangements have signed the contract. Payments under the new contract have all been made on time.

§ Miss McIntosh
People can see a doctor within 48 hours only if they declare themselves to be an emergency, and in parts of the country it is impossible to see a doctor out of hours in the evenings or at weekends. Will the Minister apologise for that? Does he accept that the new GP contract is an abject failure, and that his Government have let this country down?

§ Mr. Hutton
No. In the light of recent exchanges in the House, I hope that the hon. Lady will understand why I will not take at face value any of the so-called facts that she has just brought to our attention. They are not the case. She might be better off having a word with the motley crew on the Opposition Front Bench about the new GP contract, because I understand that the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) has said that he supports it.

§ Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney) (Lab)
Lowestoft is not a city like Manchester, Birmingham or Leicester, but it contains some of the deprivation associated with those cities. In assessing the new GP contract, will my right hon. Friend take into account the difficulties of recruiting and retaining GPs in the poorer parts of Lowestoft, which do not benefit from the incentives that are offered elsewhere? Will my right hon. Friend look at that situation?

§ Mr. Hutton
Yes, I certainly will look at the point that my hon. Friend raises. The incentives for new GPs who are starting their careers are all targeted at under-doctored areas, and that will include the constituency that my hon. Friend so ably represents. The key is to continue the investment in primary care, which is set to increase by 33 per cent. over the next couple of years and to ensure that we seek to improve the health of the poorest communities in Britain at a faster rate than any other community. That is what this Labour Government are committed to doing.

§ Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford) (Con)
Does the Minister really think it is successful that last weekend in Norfolk half the GPs who provided the out-of-hours service had to be flown in from Germany? Is the Minister doing anything to prevent the inevitable chaos at weekends for the out-of-hours service as GPs cease to have surgeries on Saturday mornings, and the pressures on the service in the evenings during the week as patients cannot get appointments?

§ Mr. Hutton
I know that the hon. Gentleman has a vested interest in spreading doom and gloom about the national health service. In relation to the points that he raises, some 40 PCTs have now successfully negotiated opt-out arrangements in relation to the new contract with their local practices. The general view is that those opt-out arrangements are working effectively. The hon. Gentleman raised the issue of Norfolk and I understand that it is looking at finding some doctors from Germany to support the work of GPs.
681 It was important to make the changes to the contract, because the doctors themselves asked us to do it and agreed to the changes in the ballot. The new contract will help us in the wider sense of recruiting more GPs to work in primary care. However, we should nail one misunderstanding. The contract does not suggest that out-of-hours services will end: it will remain the case that people will have access to a GP out of hours. That is the legal responsibility of PCTs and it cannot be avoided. My understanding is that the Conservative party supports the changes to the contractual arrangements for the employment of GPs, but they come here and imply that they think that we should not make those changes. What a bunch of hypocrites they are. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The right hon. Gentleman will withdraw that remark.

§ Mr. Hutton
Of course, Mr. Speaker—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. He should say nothing else; just withdraw the remark.

§ Mr. Hutton
I am happy to withdraw that remark.

§ Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
GP services in Birmingham have improved tremendously and the contracts are working. It is a fact that 98 per cent. of people in Birmingham can see a GP within 48 hours. However, GPs do not operate in isolation. We must continue to drive down the waiting lists for referrals to see a consultant. Will my right hon. Friend remind the people of Birmingham—especially those in Hodge Hill, who will be voting soon—which party represents their interests, is driving the NHS forward and will continue those improvements, not jeopardise them?

§ Mr. Hutton
I am very happy to do that. People face a clear choice between a party that is committed to investment and giving patients guarantees about when they will be treated and by whom, and the Opposition, who would do none of those things.