No doctors, no development: MP calls for GP guarantee on new housing

Helen Morgan said building new houses should go “hand in hand” with increasing GP surgery capacity, after recent research showed household demand for GPs across Shropshire had surged by an average of more than 700 per practice.

The Liberal Democrat analysis highlighted that more than 8,700 homes have been built in Shropshire since 2015, yet the number of GP practices has fallen, with just 40 now serving the whole of the county compared to 45 ten years ago.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said: “Across Shropshire, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered - this must end.

“New or expanded GP surgeries should be up and running in areas of new development as soon as the first homes are sold.

“Councils and local communities should be given the powers to hold developers' feet to the fire and demand the local doctors surgeries we so badly need.”

Helen said developers in Shropshire should be required to not only fund new facilities but to guarantee the GP surgery contract, or the cost of salaried GPs, while new residents were still moving in, easing the pressure on existing over-stretched GPs.

The MP, who is also the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care, has long called for improvements to GP practice and appointment waiting times, including the introduction of a guarantee for people to get an appointment within seven days or 24 hours if urgent.

Helen added: “There has never been a worse time to be a patient, with health services overstretched and unacceptable waiting times. Shropshire needs investment in local services, including GPs, to cut waiting times and get people the care they deserve.

“We must get our NHS back on track, by building and delivering the services our communities need and ensuring new homes always go hand in hand with more GPs.”