Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage general practices to return to in person appointments.

Face-to-face appointments have been available throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and approximately half of all appointments during the pandemic have been delivered in person. NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to general practitioner (GP) practices on 19 July, setting out the expectation that practices should offer a blend of face to face and remote appointments, with remote triage where possible.

Practice receptions should be open, so patients without access to phones or online services are not disadvantaged. Practices are expected to review their communications to ensure patients know how to access GP services.