Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people are able to get an immediate appointment with their GP when a case is deemed to be of a worrying nature.

‘Our plan for patients’, published on 22 September 2022, aims to improve access to general practice and assist patients to make informed choices on which practice meets their needs. We expect that patients who need an appointment within two weeks should receive one and patients with urgent needs should be seen on the same day. In August 2022, 44.6% of appointments took place on the same day as it was booked, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations. In some cases, it may be appropriate for a practice to direct a patient to accident and emergency or to dial 999.