Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of face-to-face appointments with General Practitioners available in Slough.

Excluding COVID-19 vaccinations, in July 2022 55.8% of appointments in the Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) area were conducted face-to-face, compared to 50.1% in July 2021.

In Slough, NHS Frimley ICB has worked with Primary Care Networks and general practitioner (GP) practices to increase capacity, including for the provision of routine and urgent same-day face-to-face appointments. NHS Frimley ICB has also provided access to additional GP appointments in one central location through all Slough GP practices, to maximise the available workforce to all registered patients. GP and nurse appointments are also available during weekday evenings and weekends at five hub locations in Slough.

Remote appointments via the telephone or online, can provide additional choice and flexibility for some patients where appropriate for their needs. We are investing at least £1.5 billion to expand and diversify the workforce to create 50 million additional appointments nationally by 2024.