Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the cost to the public purse of installing new telephone systems in GP practices in England last year; and how many (a) systems (b) handsets were installed.

The Department does not hold data on the cost of installing new telephone systems in general practices, nor on how many systems and handsets were installed.

As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. Since 1 October 2025, practices are required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests.