Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve incidental diagnosis rate of heart valve disease following the reduction of face-to-face GP appointments.

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s guidance states that general practitioner practices must provide face to face appointments, alongside remote consultations. Patients’ views should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face to face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary. In March 2022, 62% of appointments were face-to-face, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations. At the end of 2021/22, 66 community diagnostic centres were available to support Primary Care Networks to increase diagnostic capacity and improve the detection of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease.