Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to undertake a review of the (a) effectiveness and (b) outcomes of the Digital First programme in (i) primary care and (ii) other NHS service settings.

The Digital First programme supports the delivery of access to primary care and helps patients and their carers manage their health. The NHS Long Term Plan commits that every patient will have the right to be offered digital-first primary care by 2023-24. An independent evaluation of Digital First has been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement and is now underway. The evaluation will provide evidence on the impact of online consultation systems on patients, general practitioner practices and the wider health and social care system and will be used to inform policy and other digital initiatives. Other National Health Service settings have implemented new digital ways of working during the COVID-19 pandemic and there will be much to learn from these.