The party will put “record funding into our GP surgeries” and recruit 6,000 more GPs and 6,000 additional pharmacists, nurses and physiotherapists over the next five years, in a bid to create 50 million more GP appointments every year, health secretary Matt Hancock announced on Saturday (November 9).

The Conservative party told C+D this afternoon that it has not yet set out the exact breakdown of roles among the 6,000 support staff. When asked by C+D how these roles will be funded, the party said: “Our plans are backed by £2.5 billion of new money”.

There are currently 307 million appointments per year in GP surgeries, the party claimed. “This announcement represents over a 15% uplift in appointment numbers.”

The Conservatives have also pledged to “make sure patients can benefit from digital booking and consultations offered by phone, Skype or online if they want them”, in an effort to “ensure patients can speak to the right person at the right time”.

Mr Hancock said GPs are “the best way of helping us all stay out of hospital”, and the extra appointments will “help everyone get the care they need”.

In January, NHS England opened up “thousands of opportunities” for “clinical” pharmacists to work in GP surgeries, as part of the five-year GP funding contract.

However, multiples and pharmacy bodies have blamed the push to recruit more GP pharmacists for recruitment challenges in community pharmacy.