November 3rd 2026

By Ailsa Colquhoun

Threatened rural surgeries fire up half of all Lib Dem MPs

Some 36 Liberal Democrat MPs - half of those currently sitting in the House of Commons - have voiced concern over the threat to rural surgeries poised by Neighbourhood Health plans.

Writing in a letter to health secretary Yvette Cooper, Liberal Democrat MPs from constituencies across the country say they are particularly alarmed by the potential loss of rural and village GP surgeries under this framework.

The letter is headed by Helen Maguire MP (Epsom & Ewell) who is also the Liberal Democrat spokesman for primary care and cancer. It references the Policy Exchange report, the Rural Penalty which warned that one fifth of England, 116 constituencies, risk facing a “rural penalty” of lower NHS funding and worse access to doctors under the NHS’s 10-Year Health Plan.

The MPs highlight to Government that funding formulas do not reflect the extra complexity and cost of rural and coastal general practice. They call for Government to make three committments: 

• To pledge that rural services will not be defunded or closed under the Neightbourhood Health model
• To publish a rural and coastal impact assessment of the 10-Year Plan and the Neighbourhood Health model.
• To review the NHS funding formulas, including the outdated Carr-Hill formula, so that they properly reflect rurality as well as deprivation and general need.

The letter, which was informed by the DDA and other dispensing GPs, closes: "Rural and coastal communities are entitled to the same quality of care as anyone else. Recognising their circumstances is not special treatment; it is just fairness."

Read the letter