NEW figures show an extra 1,503 GPs have been recruited across England through this scheme since 1 October – thanks to government action – with 131 of these joining general practice across the South West.

The recruitment boost, part of the government's Plan for Change, will help ease patients’ struggle to see a doctor in the South West – easing pressure on local GPs and cutting waiting times. Alongside changes to the GP contract for 2025/26, these additional GPs will help end the 8am scramble for appointments which so many local patients currently endure every day.

When the government came into office, unnecessary red tape was preventing practices from hiring newly qualified GPs, meaning more than 1,000 were due to graduate into unemployment. At the same time, there were also 1,399 fewer fully qualified GPs than a decade prior, showing how years of underfunding and neglect had eroded GP services. The government cut the red tape and found an extra £82-million to allow practices to hire the GPs, thanks to the extra funding announced at the Budget.

People in communities across the South West region will be more readily able to receive the timely care they deserve, helping to shift healthcare from hospitals to the community.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: "Rebuilding our broken NHS starts with fixing the front door. We inherited a ludicrous situation where patients couldn't get a GP appointment, while GPs couldn't get a job. By cutting red tape and investing more in our NHS, we have recruited an extra 1,503 GPs into general practice to deliver more appointments.

"The extra investment and reforms we have made will allow patients to book appointments more easily, to help bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble.

"It is only because of the necessary decisions we took to increase employer National Insurance that we are able to recruit more GPs and deliver better services for patients. The extra investment and reform this government is making, as part of its Plan for Change, will get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future."

The recruitment of an additional 1,503 GPs was made possible by the tough but fair decisions the Chancellor took at the Budget to fix the foundations of the NHS, enabling the government to provide almost £26-billion to get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future.

Thanks to these decisions, the government has already delivered over two-million extra appointments since July, meeting its target seven months early, and brought the waiting list down by 193,000.

Last year, the department added GPs to the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) and provided an extra £82-million in funding, meaning that GPs could be recruited more quickly by primary care networks (PCNs).

The government has since provided the biggest boost to GP funding in years - an extra £889-million on top of the existing budget for general practice in 2025/26.