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 in-person appointments are available in all GP surgeries.

On 14 October, we set out measures in ‘Our plan for improving access for patients and supporting general practice’ to support general practice over the winter period and in the longer term. This included an additional investment of £250 million in a Winter Access Fund to improve the availability of general practitioner (GP) practices and increase the number of face-to-face appointments, while also investing in technology to make it easier for patients to see or speak to their GP. We expect patients to experience the same high quality of care regardless of how they access their GP surgery.