Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential risks of rejecting secondary care referrals that are currently accepted.

It is not Government policy for referrals to secondary care to be rejected. General practitioners (GPs) are encouraged to seek specialist advice ahead of making a referral where it is clinically appropriate to do so. Patients benefit from earlier specialist input and are more likely to receive the right care in the right place, first time.

A GP’s right to refer is unchanged. If a patient needs a hospital referral, they will get one.