Call for GP ‘guarantee’ with new developments amid 30% rise in ‘homes per practice’

The Liberal Democrats are calling for GP investment to be guaranteed on every new development, amid a steep rise in homes per practice.

The party said its ‘shocking analysis’ revealed that GP surgeries serve 30% more, or an extra 917 homes each per practice, in the last decade. It also noted that an ‘eyewatering’ 1,327 practices closed in the time period.

According to its analysis, based on NHS Digital data, there were 3,066 homes per GP practice in 2015, compared to 3,976 in 2024.

Pulse’s major Lost Practices investigation in 2022 found that 474 GP surgeries across the UK had closed in the previous nine years without being replaced.

The Lib Dems would require developers to fund or build new GP surgeries, or expand existing ones, in time for the arrival of new residents, with developer levies used to pay for them to be ‘staffed while new residents are still moving in’.

Last year, Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham John Milne wrote exclusively for Pulse about how the restrictions facing local planning authorities have caused a deficit of GP surgeries and other public infrastructure.

The party mentioned that this would support their manifesto policy to ensure ‘everyone can get an appointment within 7 days, or 24 hours if urgent’.

Under the policy, developers would be required not only to fund new facilities but also to guarantee the GP contract or the cost of salaried GPs while new residents are still moving in.

In response to the announcement, the RCGP said that getting developers to guarantee funding to set up a new practice could help make sure practices are able to serve the needs of growing communities.

The party’s leader Ed Davey said: ‘Far too often with new developments, GPs are promised but never delivered. The result is hundreds of missing GP surgeries, broken trust, and huge pressure on local services.

‘It’s a bad deal for existing residents and those moving in. We need to turn that situation on its head and tell developers: no doctors, no deal.

‘The Liberal Democrats have a plan to get our NHS back on track and that starts with getting Britain building and delivering the services communities need.’

RCGP vice chair Dr Munro Stewart said: ‘Too often, new homes are built without ensuring residents are able to access a local GP. This places additional strain on already overstretched GPs in the surrounding area and makes it harder for patients to get appointments.

‘Patients should be able to access general practice care and services in a timely way, but this depends on having the workforce and infrastructure in place to meet demand – and GPs are already beyond capacity, and too often working in crumbling buildings which are too small.

‘As need for our services continues to grow, it is vital that NHS leaders at both a local and national level, local authorities and developers work together to ensure that adequate primary care services are in place from the outset, with the funding and workforce required to deliver safe care.’

Lib Dem health spokesperson Helen Morgan said: ‘Our communities are haunted by the ghosts of GP surgeries that have never materialised, leaving local services badly overwhelmed.

‘How can we expect residents, existing and new, to trust decision makers if we fail them at the first hurdle? Our communities, and families trying to make a new life for themselves, are being left high and dry.’

The party managed to increase its number of MPs from only 11 to 72 in the last general election