A Cumbrian MP has urged the Government to step in and save under-threat GP surgeries in the county.
On the floor of the House of Commons, Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale, urged the new Secretary of State of Health, Steve Barclay, to intervene to save the surgeries in Ambleside and Hawkshead
He also asked for the minister to set up a sustainable small surgeries fund to protect the long-term future of rural GP practices.
Mr Farron said new figures from the NHS showed the number of GPs in South Cumbria and North Lancashire had fallen from 210 and 176 since 2016.
Meanwhile in North Cumbria, there had been a 17 per cent drop from 180 to 150.
Speaking during Health and Social Care Questions in Parliament, Mr Farron said:“In Cumbria we have lost one in six of our GPs in the past six years, most recently at the Central Lakes Medical Practice in Ambleside and Hawkshead.
“Will the Secretary of State pay special attention to the letting of that new contract to ensure that there is a GP service running out of the surgeries in Ambleside and Hawkshead?
“Will he also give thought to the fact that the Government’s removal of the minimum practice income guarantee has cost many rural surgeries their ability to be sustainable, and consider bringing back a sustainable small surgeries fund so that small rural surgeries can stay open?”
Mr Barclay said: “As a rural MP and having worked in Kendal earlier in my career, I know the geography to which the honourable gentleman refers.
“That is why we are investing in more GP training, increasing the number from 2,671 in 2014 to 4,000, but it is also why we introduced the payment of £20,000, to encourage GPs into those areas that are hard to recruit in.”
