Details of the latest round of promised support for practices were announced yesterday, including indemnity funding, new premises and mental health projects.

Under the proposals GPs will get help with indemnity costs for working in out of hours services.

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens unveiled the plans at the conference of the National Association of Primary Care in Birmingham.

He said there would be 300 new schemes of investment in practice premises and technology under the Estates and Technology Transformation Fund in the Midlands and the East of England. So far 560 schemes have been completed and 316 are under way.

Some £35 million this year and next year is to be spent on developing psychological therapies for people with long-term conditions, he said.

The money is to go to 30 clinical commissioning groups to test out the theory that tackling anxiety and depression can help people with diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage their conditions better.

Mr Stevens said: “The NHS needs strong primary care services, and today we’re taking further practical action to provide GPs with modern surgeries to work from, expanded staff to offer their patients a wider range of mental health care, and better support for GPs who look after patients at evenings and weekends.

“We meant it when we said GP services are the bedrock of the NHS, and we’re backing that commitment with concrete action to deliver the GP Forward View.”