MPs are to undertake a major investigation into the crisis in general practice, it has been announced.

It came as the number of new GP trainees hit 4,000 for the first time – and amid controversy over the threat of “industrial action” by GPs.

The inquiry by the House of Commons health committee is to investigate the main barriers to accessing general practice and how effective government plans are at tackling this. It will look into the main challenges facing general practice over the next five years – and investigate the impact of patients being unable to access their local practice “using their preferred method.” The terms of reference mean the MPs will look into the government’s controversial “rescue” plan which threatened to publish individual GP earnings and has led to the threat of action from the profession.

Committee chair Jeremy Hunt said: “General Practice is in crisis now with an utterly exhausted and demoralised workforce and patients increasingly uncertain of what they can expect. Yet it remains the beating heart of the NHS and essential to the prevention agenda – so how do we get there? This will be one of our most important inquiries of the coming year.”

Health Education England reported last night that more than 4,000 doctors have now accepted places on GP training schemes for the coming year. Last year there were 3,793 trainees compared with 2,671 in 2014. GP organisations say the increase in trainees is still not enough to combat chronic shortages of GPs.

HEE deputy medical director Professor Simon Gregory said: “It has been a challenging 18 months for the profession across the board. As a GP myself it is heart-warming to see so many trainees wanting to become family doctors. The fact that so many people are interested in joining general practice specialty training means we are doing all we can to help provide a sufficient and sustainable workforce.”