Integrated Care Boards: Access to Services

Baroness Pidgeon Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Pidgeon]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of access to primary and community health services by integrated care boards.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, access to primary care is improving. The year June 2025 to June 2026 saw nearly 14 million more GP appointments compared with the same period in the previous year, and satisfaction when contacting a GP increased by over 14% compared with July 2024. For the first time, we have introduced a waiting time standard for community health services, and 37.6 million NHS dental treatment courses were delivered in 2025-26, which is 6.2% higher than in 2024-25.

[Baroness Pidgeon (LD)]

My Lords, more than 600,000 people are waiting for hospital eye appointments, yet on our high streets there are optometrists who can provide urgent and minor eye care services, ensuring faster, more convenient access for patients. Will the Government require all ICBs to commission these basic community health services?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The requirement on ICBs now is to focus on the strategic commissioning of health services and to be responsible for all but the most specialised services. Looking particularly at improvement of access to eye care, which is extremely important, the Government recently announced some £20 million to improve digital connectivity between primary care, optometry and secondary eye care. In all these ways, people will be far better served in their eye care.