Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page six of the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of digital connectivity among (a) older and (b) disabled people, and what steps he is taking to increase the number of those people that have access to new digital NHS services.

Information on the proportion of patients with a long-term condition without access to a smart phone is not routinely collected. We are committed to ensuring that all those using the National Health Service have fair and equitable access to high quality, effective healthcare services that are responsive to all patients’ needs.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets a clear directive to offer digital first options for the provision of health and care to meet user needs and create a sustainable health and care system. We will continue to offer people choice in how they access NHS services.

Our mission is to empower people to participate in their health and care using digital services that meet their needs, target prevention and offer a personalised experience.

Whilst interaction with many health and care services will shift to digital over the coming years, this shift will not be obligatory for people who are unable or unwilling to do so. As more people move to digital channels, the time of health professionals will be freed up to spend more time with people with greater needs.