Primary Health Care: Buildings

There is no separate assessment of general practice (GP) premises as part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessments of practices. The CQC’s Premises Regulations, primarily Regulation 15, mandate that care locations must be clean, suitable, secure, and properly maintained, ensuring safety for users. As of 15 January 2026, in England there are 5,520 GP surgeries rated as Good, 256 rated as Requires Improvement, and 20 rated as Inadequate. five locations have yet to be rated.

The Government recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England this financial year. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). The most recent allocations take into account an ACRA-recommended change specifically focused on rurality.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.