Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department provides to GP practices for genetic testing for genetic haemochromatosis.

Whilst general practitioner (GP) practices are not directly funded to provide genomic testing for haemochromatosis, testing is available for all eligible patients across England through an NHS England centrally funded service. Any patient who is suspected of having haemochromatosis can be referred for testing via their local NHS Clinical Genomic Services (NHS CGSs), a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients and their families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic condition.

Individuals should discuss with their healthcare professional, for example, their GP, whether genomic testing is appropriate for them. Their GP will then make a decision whether to refer the individual either directly or via a NHS CGS for genomic testing following clinical review and the relevant genomic testing eligibility criteria.