Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that everyone has access to an in-person GP appointment.

NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to general practitioners (GPs) on 19 July 2021, stating that GP contractors should continue to offer a blended approach of face-to-face and remote appointments, with digital triage where possible.

While we know that telephone or online consultations can provide extra flexibility and convenience for patients, their input into the choice of consultation mode should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face-to-face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary, for example the presence of COVID-19 symptoms.

To expand general practice capacity, we have made available an additional £270 million from November 2020 until September 2021 to ensure GPs and their teams are able to continue to support all patients during the pandemic.