Local MP, Andrew Griffith, hosted a meeting with local healthcare leaders from nine GP surgeries across West Sussex with the Minister for GPs, Maria Caulfield MP (Thursday 13th January 2022).
The meeting featured a positive discussion around the role of rural pharmacies, challenges facing GP surgeries in increasing staffing levels, and the changes the Government is making around the organisation of local healthcare.
Maria Caulfield MP, the Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care, made it clear that the Government is looking closely at what can be done to give local healthcare professionals more freedom over how their funding is spent on protecting the most vulnerable patients in the community. She also highlighted the Government’s commitment to protecting current staff in local healthcare in addition to recruiting more doctors and nurses.
All attendees of the meeting, including Mr Griffith and the Minister, recognised the importance of supporting local healthcare providers following the two challenging years that GPs and nurses have faced.
Commenting on the meeting, Andrew Griffith MP said:
“Following a roundtable meeting with GPs last year, I was pleased to bring together rural West Sussex healthcare practitioners to discuss their most pressing concerns with the Government.
It was clear to me following a healthy discussion around the issues facing general practice that the Minister was listening to the feedback from those with first-hand experience on how to support our frontline GPs deliver better rural healthcare.”
