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 that patients can access adequate healthcare services from (a) GPs and (b) local authorities.

Local commissioners are responsible for the provision of medical services for the local population. On 14 October, we published ‘Our plan for improving access for patients and supporting general practice’. 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.

The Department increased the Public Health Grant to £3.324 billion in 2021/22 and it will be maintained in real terms over the next three years. This will enable local authorities to deliver health services to improve the health and wellbeing of their local communities.