Medical Records: Firearms
(asked on 22nd July 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of firearm holders with a firearms marker on their patient records.
The role of general practitioners (GPs) in the firearms licensing process is set out in the Home Office’s publication Firearms licensing: statutory guidance for chief officers of police, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-guidance-for-police-on-firearms-licensing
To support their role, a digital marker, SNOMED activity coding, was fully rolled out across GP IT suppliers by May 2023, giving all GPs in England access within existing GP IT systems. GPs do not need to download a separate firearms marker software.
We have not made an estimate of the proportion of firearm holders with a firearms marker on their patient records. This is because NHS England publishes an annual SNOMED report, which includes information on the number of times a relevant firearms code was added to GP patient records within the publication period. The report is available at the following link:
It should be noted that a patient could have one code added to their record multiple times throughout the year, and therefore, it is not possible to infer the number of patients with a particular code from this data. We are exploring options for how this data can be analysed to support the use of the digital marker.
This significant strengthening of the medical checks process aids GPs, or any other registered medical practitioners, in completing the application form for a person’s medical suitability for a firearms licence. The digital marker also alerts a GP if there is any concerning deterioration in a person’s health presented during the five year licence period that may impact their suitability to hold a firearms licence. GPs can now more easily alert their local police force when necessary, as the decision for who can grant and renew a firearms licence remains with the local police force.