Currently, GPs have capacity to take on more patients but can’t because of outdated buildings limiting working spaces. Over 1000 GP surgeries across the country, including Barmston and Red House in Washington and Gateshead South to be supported to modernise, backed by biggest public investment in GP facilities for five years
Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Gateshead South has today welcomed the Labour government’s announcement that patients will benefit from over 8.3 million more GP appointments each year as over a thousand doctor’s surgeries receive a bricks and mortar upgrade to modernise practices – including Barmston and Red House.
Sharon Hodgson MP said that residents in Washington and Gateshead South would soon feel the impact of an announcement that will ‘help deliver on Labour’s promise to fix the front door of the NHS’ and would be ‘music to the ears of patients in Washington and Gateshead South who are too often stuck in the 8am scramble for a GP appointment’.
Backed by the Labour government’s major cash injection of over £102 million, over 1000 GP surgeries will receive vital funding to create additional space to see more patients, boost productivity and improve patient care, following years of neglect.
Right now, many GP surgeries could be seeing more patients, but don’t have enough room or the right facilities to accommodate them. From creating new consultation and treatment rooms to making better use of existing space, these quick fixes will help patients across the country, including in Washington and Gateshead South, be seen faster.
This represents the biggest investment in GP facilities in five years and is only possible because of the difficult but necessary choices made by the government in the Budget to invest £26 billion into the NHS. And it is another measure helping the Labour government shift care out of hospital and into the community, as part of its Plan for Change.
Comment by Sharon Hodgson
“Residents in Washington and Gateshead South tell me their frustration after enduring the dreaded ‘8am scramble’ and the difficulty that they have in getting a GP appointment. I promised Labour would help bring back the family doctor – with 1,500 new GPs recruited already, I’m delighted that our Labour Government is starting to deliver on that promise.
“But that was just the start. We said we would fix the front door of the NHS – today we’re fixing the front, the sides, the back and all the rooms in between with the biggest investment GP facilities have seen for years. A Labour government delivering on our promises for Washington and Gateshead South.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said:
“It will be a long road, but this government is putting in the work to fix our NHS and make it fit for the future.
“These are simple fixes for our GP surgeries but for too long they were left to ruin, allowing waiting lists to build and stopping doctors treating more patients.
“It is only because of the necessary decisions we took in the Budget that we are able to invest in GP surgeries, start tackling the 8am scramble and deliver better services for patients. The extra investment and reform this government is making, as part of its Plan for Change, will transform our NHS so it can once again be there for you when you need it.”
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