Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan and NHS Planning Guidance commitments for 2019-20, what progress his Department has made against the commitment to extend The Getting It Right First Time programme across to community health services and primary care; and if he will make a statement.

As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan an Implementation Framework will be published shortly which will set out the next steps the National Health Service will take to deliver the commitments and the national activity and support available to systems. The Implementation Framework will assist local health systems, who will build on the engagement already taking place across the country, in developing their strategic Long Term Plan implementation plan over the summer. NHS England and NHS Improvement will then publish a national implementation plan in the autumn.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme aims to drive improvements in medical and surgical specialties through clinical leadership and the use of data to identify and reduce unwarranted variation in practice. By tackling variations in the way services are delivered across the NHS, and by sharing best practice between trusts, GIRFT identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes, as well as delivering efficiencies such as the reduction of unnecessary procedures and cost savings.

The GIRFT programme has recently concluded a pilot looking at applying the GIRFT methodology in primary care. The Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement are reviewing the findings of the pilot and will agree the appropriate next steps in the context of the new general practitioner contract and Primary Care Networks currently being established.