Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains her Department's policy that GP appointments should be available within two weeks; and what her planned timetable is for meeting that target.

We have set an expectation that where clinically appropriate, patients should receive an appointment within two weeks of requesting one, or on the same day if their need is urgent. The general practice contract requires practices to offer patients an assessment of need, or signpost them to an appropriate service, on the day they contact the practice, so that patients are not asked to call back another day.

We are committed to making it quicker and easier for people to get the help they need from primary care. That is why we published our Primary Care Recovery Plan. We are providing £240 million of funding, an average of £60,000 per practice, so that practices can transition to digital telephone systems and consultation tools which will help patients to get support more quickly.