The problem we’re trying to solve

In communities across the country, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered. The result is hundreds of missing GP surgeries, broken trust, and huge pressure on local services – a bad deal for residents old and new. Despite 1.5 million new homes since 2015 the total number of main GP practices has declined by over 1300.

It’s perhaps not surprising that GP access is the top concern of people over the NHS at the moment, and that 2025 saw record numbers waiting over one month for an appointment.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have high levels of unemployed and underemployed GPs and significant levels of developer money earmarked for infrastructure improvements but which currently goes unspent or unclaimed.

Our communities, and families trying to make a new life for themselves, are being left high and dry.

What would we do?

Liberal Democrats are clear: new housing must go hand in hand with new GPs.

Under our proposals, developers would be required to build or expand existing new GP surgeries when building new housing developments, or fund this construction upfront. We’d ensure additional GP provision is made a reality, by ensuring developer levies can be used to pay the contracts (or salaries) of GPs while patients are still moving in.

Currently, local councils use developer funds to build or expand the premises of GP surgeries (though often the process is disjointed and not fit for purpose), and developers can commit to building health infrastructure as part of a development.  However construction of this infrastructure often takes too long and there is usually no new money to fund the GP contract before patients move into an area, making new surgeries hard to staff. This creates a vicious circle where new patients register with over-subscribed practices elsewhere, and it never makes sense for a new GP to set up shop. Our plan – to guarantee the GP contract with developer contributions-  would ensure GP surgeries are not only built, but funded and staffed from the get-go.

This is part of our infrastructure-first approach to development, and supports our campaign to rescue General Practice and ensure everyone can get an appointment within 7 days or 24 hours if urgent.

Why are we talking about this now?

This is important for our communities and people’s daily lives

How can we expect residents, existing and new, to trust decision makers and to embrace change if we fail them at the first hurdle? People are promised services that never materialise, and they feel it in their daily lives. This is about basic fairness.

New development is essential – to meet the aspirations and needs of people and families around the country. That’s why we have ambitious proposals to build 150,000 social homes a year, and slash building costs through a customs union with the EU. But new residents and existing communities deserve services that can cope with growing populations. Building infrastructure first is crucial for improving people’s quality of life, strengthening community and restoring trust.

Health services are key for taking on the far right and defending our liberal values

The failure to deliver new health services fuels support for populists like Farage. Recent LSE research has confirmed what many already knew – where GP provision has receded and more surgeries have closed, support for the extreme right has risen. Restoring trust, and showing we can deliver new services, and that local communities won’t just take what is doled out to them, is critical to keeping Farage out of No.10. Liberal Democrats are offering the change people really want and need – not the false promises and snakeoil of Reform UK and the Conservatives.