Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2021 to Question 157048, what investment he is making in primary care and community services to increase capacity to prepare for a potential increase in demand.

The NHS Long Term Plan guarantees that investment in primary medical and community services will grow faster than the overall National Health Service budget. The Plan commits to a record level of additional annual investment in primary medical and community care of an extra £4.5 billion in real terms by 2023/24. In 2020, committed to at least a further £1.5 billion in cash terms for general practice until 2023/24.

Recognising additional pressures on general practice as a result of the pandemic, NHS England has made available £150 million to help expand general practitioner capacity up to the end of March 2021. The potential need for further COVID-19 funding for the early part of 2021/22 is being kept under review.