Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of ending free-of-charge covid-19 lateral flow testing for the general public on health services and patient outcomes.

From 1 April 2022, free lateral flow testing for the general public in England will end. There will be some limited testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be provide in due course. We will continue to keep the impact of these policies on health services and patient outcomes under review.