Thanks for contacting me about strengthening GP services.
I appreciate that GPs work very hard and carry out a vital role, and I know that Ministers are determined to make sure that we have the correct number of GPs.
The Government 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...
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