North Shropshire MP challenges Prime Minister over Shropshire GP crisis

MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan raised the issue of GP pressure as NHS statistics show doctors in Shropshire are now seeing 400 more patients each than they did in 2016.

Liberal Democrat Ms Morgan raised the point at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, February 22.

In the House of Commons, she asked: "The Government has not only broken its promise on new hospitals, it has also broken its pledge of 6,000 more doctors, with the number of qualified GPs having actually fallen.

"GPs in Shropshire are seeing 400 more patients each than they did in 2016 – one of the biggest rises in the country.

"Places across the country like East Sussex, Devon, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire have also seen the number of qualified GPs fall.

"When will the Prime Minister end his government’s neglect of local health services, and recruit and retain the GPs we need?"

In response, Mr Sunak said: "The facts are this - there are 2,200 more GPs in general practice today, there are 15,000 more doctors in the NHS, and there are 30,000 more nurses.

"And that's because we are putting record funding in and backing the NHS and getting patients the care that they need."

Nationally, the Liberal Democrats are calling for 8,000 more GPs and the legal right to see a GP within 24 hours if urgent and seven days for other appointments.

The North Shropshire MP said: “Families right across our area are worried sick about the state of our local health services, we need change.

“For too long North Shropshire has been taken for granted, ambulance services are stretched, GPs are under immense pressure and A&E wait times are out of hand.

“The Conservatives have let the NHS crisis spiral out of control, failing to deliver the new hospitals they promised and making people wait hours for an ambulance or months for urgent cancer treatment.”