Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made since the 2021 Friends, Families and Travellers mystery shopping exercise in ensuring that nomadic Gypsy and Traveller patients are not wrongfully refused access to GP services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are very clear that a general practice (GP) cannot refuse registering a patient based on the race or ethnicity, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability, or medical conditions of the patient. This encompasses patients from gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities.
GPs have a responsibility to register people who are homeless, have no fixed abode, or are legitimately unable to provide documentation as proof of living within the catchment area. An individual should not be refused registration or appointments because they do not have a proof of address or personal identification. It is not considered a reasonable ground to refuse registration.
The General Medical Services Regulations were updated to require practices to use a standardised registration system that doesn't require identification or an address. Additionally, the regulations now require GPs to provide an online consultation tool, allowing patients to manage appointments, and view and request repeat prescriptions digitally. This service also simplifies electronic registration with GP surgeries. Digital registration is designed to accommodate diverse patient needs, enhancing accessibility, and making it easier for patients to register without visiting the practice in person.
However, to ensure that patients aren’t digitally excluded, the GP contract is clear that patients should always have the option of visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a GP. Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve access to digital primary healthcare services among Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are struggling to access general practice (GP), and that these struggles can be particularly acute in inclusion health groups such as gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities.
We want to ensure that digital healthcare services are available to those who need them. The GP contract requires GPs to provide an online consultation tool, allowing patients to manage appointments, and view and request repeat prescriptions digitally. This service also simplifies electronic registration with GP surgeries. Digital registration is designed to accommodate diverse patient needs, enhancing accessibility, and making it easier for patients to register without visiting the practice in person.
However, to ensure that patients aren’t digitally excluded, the GP contract is clear that patients should always have the option of visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing GPs. Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to a telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 25 October (HL1693), what assessment they have made of the June report, Enablers of digital inclusion in primary care for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities, published by the Roma Support Group, and Friends, Families and Travellers, on access for Roma and Traveller people to digital services in primary care contexts such as GPs, opticians, pharmacies, and dentists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Enablers of digital inclusion in primary care for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities recommends that primary care services offer flexibility and choice, including non-digital access routes, and that accessibility should be prioritised when designing digital services.
We will ensure patients have multiple routes of access to primary care by guaranteeing a face-to-face general practice appointment to anyone who wants one, and by implementing a modern booking system to end the 8:00am rush. Digital tools used in primary care settings must meet required minimum standards of functionality set by NHS England, ensuring a consistent quality of service for patients, and all organisations providing National Health Services, including primary care providers, must follow the Accessible Information Standard.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 25 October (HL1778 and HL1779), how the Suicide Prevention Strategy envisages improving the suicide rate of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities over its five-year period.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The purpose of the strategy was to set a direction for suicide prevention for all organisations to consider (national and local government, researchers and VCSE sectors). The ambitions outlined in the Suicide Prevention Strategy of September 2023 cover five years and include research on and better understanding of national trends and suicide rates in particular groups, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.
A qualitative research project exploring the lived experiences of Roma people in England and Wales, including priorities, needs and access to services, will shortly be starting. This project is led by the Qualitative Research Team, within the Centre for Equalities and Inclusion at the Office for National Statistics, delivered in partnership with Migration Yorkshire, Roma Support Group and the University of Sheffield, and in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Education and Cabinet Office.
This project will provide insights into how Roma communities’ needs change over their lifetime and identify barriers to accessing services, including for maternal and mental health. Depending on the findings, this research may give us insight into the factors contributing to suicide risk within Roma communities and enable us to develop more targeted prevention strategies that resonate with the Roma community’s unique experiences and challenges, address the unique needs of the young Roma population in England and anticipate how migration and settlement patterns may influence their future healthcare requirements.
More broadly, our Inclusion Health initiative aims to support the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities and other inclusion health groups. This program is specifically designed to address the unique needs of socially excluded groups.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that nomadic Gypsy and Traveller patients are not wrongfully refused access to GP services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are very clear that a general practice (GP) cannot refuse registering a patient based on the race or ethnicity, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability, or medical conditions of the patient. This encompasses patients from gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities.
Additionally, GPs have a responsibility to register people who are homeless, have no fixed abode, or are legitimately unable to provide documentation as proof of living within the catchment area. An individual should not be refused registration or appointments because they do not have a proof of address or personal identification. It is not considered a reasonable ground to refuse registration.
Practices also have a contractual duty to provide emergency treatment and immediately necessary treatment free of charge for up to 14 days to anyone within their practice area who isn’t registered with another provider of essential services.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to improve access to digital primary healthcare services for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are struggling to access general practice, and that these struggles can be particularly acute in inclusion health groups such as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
We want to ensure digital healthcare services are available to those who need them. and all practices are now required to offer online and video consultation tools, secure electronic communication methods, and online facilities to provide and update personal information.
However, we are clear that all online tools must be provided as an additional option, not as a replacement for more accessible channels like telephone or reception services. This ensures that individuals without access to digital technology, including those from disadvantaged groups, are not excluded and can choose the method of communication that works best for them. All patients should be treated equitably no matter what route they access general practice.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in updating the NHS Data ethnicity categories in line with the 2021 Census categories, to include Gypsies, Travellers and Roma.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has continued to work at a national level on behalf of the Department, as part of a wider equality monitoring review programme, to explore options for how best to update equality monitoring arrangements by reference to the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. This review for the National Health Service includes consideration of equality monitoring in relation to ethnicity and consideration of the 2021 ethnic group census categories, which includes gypsy, Irish traveller, and Roma. Once the report recommendations are made to the Department, ministers will review and consider next steps.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their statement in the Suicide prevention in England: 5-year cross-sector strategy, published on 11 September 2023, that "there needs to be comprehensive research on, and better understanding of national trends and suicide rates in particular groups, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people", what research they have carried out on the national trends of suicide rates of those groups; and what results they have found.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The ambitions outlined in the Suicide Prevention Strategy of September 2023 cover five years. The purpose of the strategy was to set a direction for suicide prevention for all organisations to consider, including national and local government, researchers, and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors.
The Department has sponsored qualitative research from the Health and Wellbeing Alliance Consortium on this topic, which led to the publication in May 2024 of Tackling Mental Health Inequalities for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller People.
As part of this, we have so far sponsored projects exploring gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities’ experiences of suicide and mental health. These projects have been delivered as part of a Department, UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England led Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their statement in the Suicide prevention in England: 5-year cross-sector strategy, published on 11 September 2023, that "there needs to be comprehensive research on, and better understanding of national trends and suicide rates in particular groups, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people", what steps they are taking to address the higher rate of suicide among Gypsy and Irish Traveller people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The ambitions outlined in the Suicide Prevention Strategy of September 2023 cover five years. The purpose of the strategy was to set a direction for suicide prevention for all organisations to consider, including national and local government, researchers, and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors.
The Department has sponsored qualitative research from the Health and Wellbeing Alliance Consortium on this topic, which led to the publication in May 2024 of Tackling Mental Health Inequalities for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller People.
As part of this, we have so far sponsored projects exploring gypsy, Roma, and traveller communities’ experiences of suicide and mental health. These projects have been delivered as part of a Department, UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England led Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to request that Ipsos includes a category of "Speech, Language, and Communication Difficulties” in the annual GP Patient Survey.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The 2024 GP Patient Survey includes a question on long-term conditions, which currently lists 15 such conditions. ‘Speech, Language, and Communication Difficulties’ is not one of the specific options listed in this question in the 2024 survey.
We appreciate that there are many people in England who are living with speech, language, and communication difficulties. We must strike a careful balance between breadth of coverage and the availability of space in the questionnaire. Anyone who is living with a long-term condition which is not listed is able to select ‘Another long-term condition’.
However, we record all questionnaire feedback given to us and take it into account when we review the survey every year.