Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP practices offer a six week postnatal check-up; and what information his Department holds on the take-up of such checks at those practices.

All general practitioner (GP) practices are expected to provide maternity medical services for their registered patients. Practices may however exceptionally choose to opt out of providing such services e.g. on workload grounds. Practices which choose to opt out will relinquish a proportion of their global sum income – currently 2.1%. It is the responsibility of the lead commissioner locally (NHS England or clinical commissioning groups under delegated agreement) to ensure the patients of opted out practices can continue to access these services e.g. commissioning the service from a nearby alternative practice.

NHS England and the Department do not collate data on the number of practices that have opted out but financial information gives some indication as payments to these practices are reduced to fund the re-commissioning of services. Financial data from 2016/17 suggests that up to four practices out of the 7,523 opted out of maternity medical services.

NHS England and the Department do not collect information on the number of patients who have their post-natal check at their GP practice.