Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of guidance to help staff in GP surgeries recognise loneliness in patients.

The Department and NHS England have not made an assessment of the effectiveness of published guidance to general practitioners around loneliness in patients.

The Department will work closely to support the Minister for Sport and Civil Society in developing the cross-government strategy on loneliness.

A number of existing Department-supported programmes can help to address loneliness, including dementia friendly communities, Dementia Friends, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, the Carers Action Plan and social prescribing.