Through family experience and my previous jobs, I know that GPs work very hard and carry out a vital role in our NHS.
The Government also recognises this, and has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the NHS in England. HEE must ensure that a minimum of 3,250 trainees per year are recruited to GP training programmes in England by 2016.
As part of a New Deal for General Practice, I am delighted that the Government has committed to increasing the primary and community care workforce by 10,000 by 2020, including an additional 5,000 doctors working in general practice.
Additionally, the Government has announced a £10 million investment package to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. It covers a wide range of measures to recruit more medical students to take up a career in general practice, retain those doctors already working there, and provide support for GPs who have taken a career break to get back into work.
I support the Government's commitment to implementing a truly 7-day NHS and I agree that it is important that GPs are properly supported in the delivery of 7-day services. A new, voluntary contract for GPs, which will give more control to GPs over how they work, will be funded with money from the £10 billion in real terms of additional investment pledged by the Government over the next five years. As set out in the Spending Review, the Government has committed £750 million to fund improvements in premises, technologies and new ways of working. This will ensure that everyone is able to access GP services in the evenings and at weekends.