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Jess Brown-Fuller Backs Lib Dem Call for 'No Doctors, No Development'
- Apr 20
- 2 min read
Jess Brown-Fuller MP has launched a petition backing the Liberal Democrats' proposed 'No Doctors, No Development' policy, which would require that sufficient GP capacity be confirmed and funded before new housing developments are permitted to begin construction.
The policy is a response to a decade of mounting pressure on primary care. Liberal Democrat analysis shows that GP surgeries now serve an average of 917 more homes each than they did in 2015 - a 30% increase in patient demand - while 1,327 practices have closed over the same period.
In Chichester, the consequences have been visible. Langley House Surgery now carries a message on its website stating it is unable to accept new NHS patients due to an unmanageable rise in its patient list. Emsworth Medical Practice has closed its rural branch in Westbourne entirely, leaving patients in that community without local healthcare provision.
At the Minerva Heights development, the original planning application included provision for a new health centre on site. The local NHS subsequently decided against building a dedicated new facility, concluding that existing practices could absorb the additional demand instead, a decision critics argue places further pressure on surgeries already operating at capacity.
Under Liberal Democrat proposals, developers would be required not only to fund new or expanded GP facilities, but to guarantee the surgery contract, or the cost of salaried GPs, while new residents are still moving in. Developer levies would cover staffing costs during that transition, ensuring new practices are viable from the outset rather than incoming residents being absorbed into already full lists.
The proposal sits within the Liberal Democrats' broader infrastructure-first approach, alongside their existing campaign to guarantee GP appointments within seven days - or 24 hours for urgent cases. The party has also cited LSE research finding a correlation between declining GP provision and rising support for the extreme right, suggesting the consequences of reduced primary care access extend beyond public health alone.
Jess Brown-Fuller said:
"Anyone trying to register with a GP in this constituency right now knows how overstretched our surgeries already are. Langley House can't take new patients. Westbourne has lost its surgery altogether. And yet development continues to be approved without any guarantee that the healthcare infrastructure will follow.
What happened at Minerva Heights is a warning. A health centre was promised as part of the plans, and instead residents will be relying on practices that are already at capacity. That cannot happen again.
New homes must come with the doctors to serve them, and this policy would make that a legal requirement, not an aspiration."
For more information, visit the No Doctors, No Development petition here.
