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 health impacts of (a) cancelled in-person GP visits and (b) virtual or telephone appointments during the covid-19 outbreak.

We continue to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to assess the impacts of missed appointments and the use of remote consultations. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned an independent evaluation to understand the impact for staff, patients and the wider health and care system of using digital tools in primary care to inform its long-term strategy.

Appointment numbers have risen to over 31.5 million in April 2021, with over half, or 54.8% of all appointments face to face and 40.7% telephone appointments.