Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing how to determine a GPs patient list size as safe when assessing and developing general practice policy.

No recent assessment has been made. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) monitor general practitioner practices’ compliance with contractual requirements and any risks to patient safety and service provision. If a practice considers that it cannot safely take on any more patients, it may close its patient list, provided this is approved by the CCG.

NHS England and NHS Improvement provide guidance for commissioners and practices on managing patient lists in the ‘Primary Medical Care Policy and Guidance Manual’. The Manual is published annually and an update is currently being prepared for publication.