General Practitioners: Tunbridge Wells
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board on plans to upgrade GP provision and access in the Tunbridge Wells constituency, specifically at the (i) Lonsdale, (ii) Woodlands, (iii) Grosvenor & St James, (iv) Kingswood and (v) Speldhurst & Greggswood surgeries.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
We are increasing general practice (GP) capacity and funding to improve access. The Department has not held discussions with the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board. It is for the relevant commissioner to ensure that appropriate provision is in place locally.
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.
Tunbridge Wells sits within the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board. 9,000 more GP appointments were delivered in the 12 months to May 2026 compared to the year previous. Additionally, the 2025 General Practice Patient Survey found that 70% of patients rated their overall experience of their practice as “good” in 2025, an increase of 5% since 2023. Further information on specific GP appointment data by individual practice is available in the table attached.
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