Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) adequacy of GP services as a result of the publication of the British Social Attitudes Survey.

The Government has committed to ensuring everyone across the country has easier and more convenient access to general practice services, including appointments in the evenings and weekends.

The latest National Health Service planning guidance, issued by NHS England in February 2018, requires clinical commissioning groups to provide extended access to general practice to their whole population by 1 October 2018, to ensure additional capacity is in place ahead of winter 2018. This includes ensuring that access is available during peak times of demand, including bank holidays and across the Easter, Christmas and New Year periods. Currently, 52% of the population is benefitting from extended access, including evening and weekend appointments.

The general practitioner (GP) Patient Survey for 2017 found that 85% of patients had a good overall experience of their GP surgery and 95% of respondents said that they have confidence and trust in their GP.