Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve integration between hospitals, GP practices and district nursing services to streamline care for older patients and prevent long delays in accessing medical assessment for potentially serious conditions such as infection or deep vein thrombosis.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will fundamentally transform the National Health Service, through shifting resources from hospital to community, with a focus on population health. We know that reform cannot be achieved by simply shifting care to other parts of the health and care system working as they are now, and that more integrated working between primary and secondary care will be vital.

We are improving access to the front door of the NHS, for example by increasing capacity in general practice. More timely access to primary care and better proactive care for long term conditions will reduce demand into urgent and emergency care and reduce pressure in hospitals, freeing them up to providing faster and productive care for those who most need it, including older patients.

One example of the left-shift in practice is the pan-Sussex community project. Here patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis are seen in the community under the care of their general practitioner, leading to a substantial reduction in the number of patients needing to visit their local acute hospital.

We are also committed to reducing long waits and improving patient experience in urgent and emergency care. The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework sets out a clear trajectory to improve performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard. This will be supported by investment in staff, digital triage, and community urgent care.