Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NHS England publishes on minimising GP appointment drop-outs and did-not-attends.

NHS England does not currently hold information on the number of patients who did not attend general practitioner (GP) appointments on either a local or national level. NHS England has directed NHS Digital to gather this information as a part of a new national collection of GP workload information. This collection will begin shortly.

NHS England has not issued guidance on minimising missed GP appointments. This is tackled on a local level as GP practices are best placed to understand the needs of their patients.