Stephen Morgan MP welcomes Labour’s plans to bring back the family doctor

Stephen Morgan has today welcomed Labour’s plans to bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble for appointments – key manifesto commitments with action being taken to deliver on those promises and get the NHS back on its feet.

GPs in Portsmouth will be able to spend more time treating patients under Labour’s proposed reforms to general practice which will bring back the family doctor and slash red tape.

Under the proposals, patients in Portsmouth, including those with complex needs, long-term conditions, or the elderly would experience greater continuity of care.

The proposals fall under the new GP contract for 2025/26, which is now out for consultation with the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee to provide its feedback.

The proposals are backed by the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889m on top of the existing budget for general practice.

The proposed measures would also reduce the number of outdated performance targets that GPs must meet, in a further step to reduce bureaucracy and ensure doctors can spend more time with their patients.

Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said: “When I knock on doors in Portsmouth I hear time and time again the difficulty that residents have in making a GP appointment and how important the front door to our NHS is to them and their families.

“I promised residents in Portsmouth that we would help bring back the family doctor and I’m delighted to see proposals that would deliver on that promise.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “General practice is buckling under the burden of bureaucracy, with GPs filling out forms instead of treating patients. It is clear the system is broken, which is why we are slashing red tape, binning outdated performance targets, and instead freeing doctors up to do their jobs

“We promised to bring back the family doctor, but we want to be judged by results – not promises. That’s why we will incentivise GPs to ensure more and more patients see the same doctor at each appointment.

“Through our Plan for Change, we are acting to fix the front door to the NHS and we have already started hiring an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS.

“We are proposing substantial additional investment and greater flexibility to employ doctors so patients get better care. I call on GPs to now work with us to get the NHS back on its feet and end their collective action.”