Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his speech of 19 June 2015, on A new deal for general practice, in what ways he expects GPs to play more of a role in public health.

The Five Year Forward View focuses on prevention of illness and empowering patients to take an active role in their health and wellbeing with the support of clinicians and other healthcare professionals.

As my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State outlined, this includes general practice working across traditional boundaries with other sectors to ensure patients are able to access the most appropriate service. Supporting general practice to take on a bigger role in public health would help to implement a proactive approach to the whole practice population.

In general, general practitioners have an important role to play in supporting public health, for example, through offering vaccinations. General practice is well placed to encourage people to lead healthy lifestyles, as well as to direct people to other appropriate public health or prevention services.

Supporting general practice to take on a bigger role in public health would help to implement a proactive approach to the whole practice population in relation to primary and secondary prevention, for example inclusion of weight management, physical activity and healthy eating programmes into existing care pathways. This helps patients to become more actively involved in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.