General Practitioners: West Dorset
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve GP access in West Dorset.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
We are increasing general practice (GP) capacity and funding to GPs to improve access, support better health outcomes, and increase patient satisfaction.
We are investing an additional £601 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to approximately £14 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion increase in 2025/26, the largest uplift in over a decade.
Since October 2024, £160 million has supported over 2,000 more GPs in primary care networks across England. Additionally, the 2026/27 contract also introduces a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme, backed by £292 million, to help practices recruit more GPs or expand sessions.
West Dorset sits within the NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB) area. There was a 7% increase in appointments delivered by GPs in this area. This year, 6.1 million appointments were recorded compared to 5.7 million for the same time period in 2025, supported by 436 full time equivalent, fully qualified GPs working in the NHS Dorset ICB in April 2026, including 28 GPs recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme since October 2024.
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