Skip to main content

Written question asked by Priti Patel (Conservative) on Monday, 3 December 2018, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 December 2018. It was answered by Steve Brine (Conservative) on Tuesday, 11 December 2018 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.


General Practitioners: Essex

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP vacancies there are in (a) Witham constituency and (b) Essex.

Answer

The number of general practitioner (GP) vacancies in Witham constituency and Essex is not collected or held centrally. This data is only published at a national level.

Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), has advised that it recognises that GP availability is challenging and it has therefore funded recruitment of other clinical roles in primary care, such as paramedics, to support practices in Witham and elsewhere.

Getting the skills mix right in general practice is critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care. This will mean bigger teams of staff, providing a wider range of care options for patients and freeing up more time for GPs to focus on those with more complex needs. The CCG has advised that it is working with its member practices, including those in Witham, to reflect this national priority. Practices have the discretion within their contracts to decide the staff skill mix required to meet their patient populations’ needs.

The CCG and colleagues across the Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership have advised they are also focusing on European Union and international GP recruitment and are supporting GPs in accessing the GP retention scheme. They have also advised that they are supporting the development of the School of Medicine at Anglia Ruskin University and are working in partnership with the Essex Primary Care Inter-professional Centre around a localised clinical recruitment service called Essex Primary Care Careers.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
198239
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
General practitioners Essex Vacancies
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk