Link housing developments to new or expanded GP surgeries - Shropshire MP

New housing developments in Shropshire should go “hand in hand” with new or expanded GP surgeries to improve the county’s healthcare landscape, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan said overstretched health services and “unacceptable” waiting times mean “there has never been a worse time to be a patient”, after analysis by her party of the falling number of GP surgeries in English and Welsh local authority areas.

Mrs Morgan said the number of practices in Shropshire fell from 45 in 2015 to 40 in 2025, while 8,700 new homes have been built in the county over that time.

The Liberal Democrat analysis said the number of practices in Telford and Wrekin has also fallen by five in that time, from 18 to 13, with 9,300 new homes built in the borough over the same period.

Mrs Morgan said: “Across Shropshire, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered - this must end.

“New or expanded GP surgeries should be up and running in areas of new development as soon as the first homes are sold.

“Councils and local communities should be given the powers to hold developers' feet to the fire and demand the local doctors surgeries we so badly need.”

She said developers in Shropshire should be required not only to fund new facilities but to guarantee the GP surgery contract, or the cost of salaried GPs, while new residents were still moving in, to ease the pressure on existing over-stretched GPs.

The MP, who is also the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care, has previously called for the introduction of a guarantee for people to get an appointment within seven days, or 24 hours if urgent.

“There has never been a worse time to be a patient, with health services overstretched and unacceptable waiting times. Shropshire needs investment in local services, including GPs, to cut waiting times and get people the care they deserve.

“We must get our NHS back on track, by building and delivering the services our communities need and ensuring new homes always go hand in hand with more GPs.”