Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many GP surgeries in the Folkestone area are not delivering a full range of services; whether this is occurring in other parts of the country; and whether such surgeries not delivering a full range of services is puruant to any NHS strategy.

General practitioner (GP) practices in Kent and elsewhere across the country have been allowed to reduce delivery of some services as part of the health system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some contractual requirements were suspended from March 2020 onwards to free up time in general practice, with GPs advised that they could defer some types of routine care, where needed. To reduce pressures on GPs we have simplified requirements for medical evidence and found alternative ways to provide information required for various services.