Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of communication systems between GP surgeries and pharmacies.

The Government recognises the importance of effective communication between general practice (GP) surgeries and pharmacies, to ensure safe and coordinated patient care. Over recent years, several digital initiatives have been introduced to reduce the reliance on fax and paper, and to enhance this communication, including NHSmail, the Electronic Prescription Service, and the Summary Care Record. These systems allow pharmacists to access patient information and support prescription processing.

GP Connect is a national service introduced in 2018, and further strengthened in the 2025/26 GP Contract, that allows authorised health and social care workers in a variety of care settings to access their patients' GP records. The aim of GP Connect is to support better, more joined-up clinical care by opening up information and data held within GP IT systems, so that registered community pharmacists can view and update records. This initiative supports the Pharmacy First service, which empowers pharmacists to offer a full consultation and provide treatment for seven common health conditions.

The Community Pharmacy Information Standard informed the plan to recover access to primary care published in May 2023. This set out a range of actions to improve communication between GP surgeries and community pharmacies, harnessing digital technology to streamline referrals, increase access to clinical information to support patient care and update the patient record in an efficient and timely way. The Government remains committed to strengthening primary care integration and to fixing the front door of the National Health Service.