It adds that the Government should create a new Cabinet-level ministerial position, one responsible for primary healthcare. FTSE 250-listed PHP says that as improving primary care could deliver faster treatment for millions of people than hospitals and level up healthcare provision across the country, it should be an area of “sustained Government focus”.
In its submission to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s inquiry into the future of general practice, PHP said if the Government invests up to £300million a year, it would unlock private investment of £3-5billion.
That would fund 750 new, as well as refurbished, primary care centres across the country that could reach 12 to 18 million people.
The Government’s £300million investment would be used to cover rental costs of the new buildings and is equivalent to 0.23 percent of NHS England’s annual revenue budget.
PHP says that the majority of GP surgeries and other primary care buildings are outdated and not fit for purpose.
“The shift towards remote care through digital technologies during the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the way many patients interact with front line services.
“However, embedding this digitalfirst model puts greater emphasis on the role of physical spaces to treat those patients where remote care is not appropriate,” it added.
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