Accident and Emergency Departments

(asked on 14th September 2021) - View Source

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 discourage GPs from making non-urgent referrals to accident and emergency departments.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 12th October 2021

In 2021/22 the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) will recognise general practitioner (GP) practices, organised into Primary Care Networks (PCNs), for developing and implementing plans to reduce unnecessary accident and emergency attendances and emergency hospital admissions. In 2021/22 and 2022/23, the IIF will also recognise PCNs for making and implementing plans to increase referrals from general practice to the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service. We have launched the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) which is providing GPs and NHS 111 pathways for referring patients to a consultation with a pharmacist for lower acuity conditions. Further work is underway to develop the CPCS referral routes from emergency departments and urgent treatment centres.

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