Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication by NHS England entitled Reforming elective care for patients, published on 6 January 2025, whether the fee paid to GPs for providing advice and guidance with hospital specialists will cover the costs of any subsequent follow up request for further guidance.

Advice and Guidance services enhance two-way communication between clinical colleagues in primary and secondary care. The Elective Reform Plan has committed to ensuring that general practitioners (GPs) will receive £20 per Advice and Guidance request, to recognise the importance of their role in ensuring patients receive the right care, in the right clinical setting.

Each Advice and Guidance request will be funded at £20, which is to cover any back and forth required between a GP and a hospital specialist to reach a resolution, and this may be one interaction or several dependant interactions.