Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of risks from extreme weather events to GP practices in (a) general, (b) deprived areas and (c) rural areas.

The provision and maintenance of premises are typically the responsibility of general practice (GP) partners, who are either owner-occupiers or tenants of their surgery buildings. GP owner-occupiers are responsible for all maintenance and repair of their property. For GPs that rent their premises, their lease agreement sets out who is responsible for maintenance.

GP premises improvement works can be National Health Service funded, from NHS England or the commissioner, funded by developer contributions, or self-funded by the practice. Often works are funded by a combination of these options. Under the Premises Costs Directions, which are directions to NHS England from my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the improvement of practice premises can be covered by premises improvement grants, subject to commissioner decision and affordability.

A cross-Government collaboration, which includes the NHS and the Department, produces an annual Adverse Weather and Health Plan that incorporates heatwave preparedness measures. Services are expected to be prepared for periods of hot weather from 1 June to mid-September each year. No comparative assessment of the risks has been made across GPs in the country.

Looking forward, NHS England's design and performance specification for Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) is clear that NHCs will be designed to be resilient to the impacts of climate change, including flooding and overheating. The specification states that centres should assess and mitigate flood risk and address overheating through appropriate building design and, where necessary, cooling measures to support safe care delivery. The specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/neighbourhood-health-centres-design-and-performance-specification/