The department says the recruitment boost, part of its Plan for Change, alongside changes to the GP contract for 2025-26 will help 'end the 8am scramble for appointments'.

When the government came into office, 'unnecessary red tape' was preventing practices from hiring newly-qualified GPs, meaning more than 1,000 were due to graduate into unemployment. At the same time, there were also 1,399 fewer fully-qualified GPs than a decade prior, the government says.

It has now cut the red tape and invested an extra £82m to allow networks of practices to hire the GPs, with the funding continuing past this year as a result of the extra funding announced at the Budget.

Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: ‘The extra investment and reforms we have made will allow patients to book appointments more easily, to help bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble.

'It is only because of the necessary decisions we took to increase employer National Insurance that we are able to recruit more GPs and deliver better services for patients. The extra investment and reform this government is making, as part of its Plan for Change, will get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future.'

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services, added: 'Improving access to general practice is an NHS priority and GP teams are delivering 29 million appointments every month – up a fifth since before the pandemic. 

'But we have more to do to make it easier for patients to see their local GP, so practice teams should continue to use this funding to best effect by recruiting more GPs, so more patients can be seen more quickly.'

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In response, Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, vice-chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘It should be noted that whilst having 1500 more GPs employed in the workforce is encouraging, when considering full time equivalent GPs - which gives the most accurate picture of the GP workforce and the care and services GPs are able to deliver for patients - the numbers published today are lower, at 851 GPs as of February 2025.

‘Despite these figures, we continue to hear reports from members that many GPs are struggling to find suitable employment upon qualification. The reasons for this need to be identified and addressed. Including visa issues for qualified GPs from overseas who have completed GP specialty training in the UK, as well as tackling unemployment and underemployment for GPs at every stage of their career.

‘Ultimately, what we would like to see is more funding into core general practice, so that GP practices can make decisions, including around staffing, in the best interests of the health needs of their local populations.'

Ruth Rankine, director of the Primary Care Network at the NHS Confederation, said: 'Like the rest of the NHS, general practice is seeing unprecedented demand with 60 million more appointments since before the pandemic, so the additional workforce is severely needed to meet patient needs.

'But we shouldn't stop there – we know that patients value the relationship they have with their GP. Continuity plays a vital role in helping to manage demand on the rest of the system. We look forward to a greater commitment to invest in primary care as part of the 10-Year Plan and upcoming Spending Review.'

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat health and care spokesperson, said: ‘Extra doctors are of course welcome but we will never fix the crisis in our NHS without fixing social care. Wes Streeting needs to make sure the government's review on social care is finished by the end of the year."