GP SHORTAGES

That this House is deeply concerned about the manpower crisis in general medical practice dramatically pointed out by the chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners; notes that around a third of all new GP trainees have had to be recruited from abroad; further notes that the latest plan for UK medical school admissions is to cut them by 2 per cent; wonders how GPs are expected to treat patients at the same time as they are busy commissioning services; and does not accept the argument put forward by the Secretary of State for Health that the cut to GP hours is responsible for lengthening waiting times in accident and emergency departments in England and Wales.