Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase the number of in-person GP appointments.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have been clear that general practitioner (GP) practices must provide face to face appointments, alongside remote consultations. Patients’ input into consultation type should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face to face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary, such as the presence of COVID-19 symptoms.

In October 2021, with NHS England and NHS Improvement we set out measures to support general practice over the winter period and made £250 million available for a Winter Access Fund to improve the capacity of general practices, including for providing in-person GP appointments.