Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support General Practitioners to use new technologies.

The national General Practice Improvement Programme provides tailored support to general practices to make changes and improvements. This includes supporting practices to make the best use of technology to implement the modern general practice model, to address the challenges of rising demand and increasing complexity. In addition, many practices have implemented online consultation and triage systems, enhancing patient access and experience.

The Department is also in the process of updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff. The intention is to increase comparison between medical technology products prescribed in primary care, and therefore increase meaningful choice for clinicians and patients, as well as reducing the administrative burden on health and social care professionals. These updates will also support the adoption of new innovative devices in primary care.