Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on co-location of GP surgeries within hospital accident and emergency units.

NHS England are leading a comprehensive review of the National Health Service urgent and emergency care system in England which proposes a fundamental shift in the way urgent and emergency care services are provided. A significant part of this is changing how and where primary care services are delivered and accessed by patients, from realising the potential of NHS111 services through to greater primary care streaming at the accident and emergency (A&E) front door. This includes rolling out initiatives such as the co-location of general practitioner (GP) surgeries within A&E units and other models for patients to access GP services within A&E. Additionally the A&E improvement plan 2016/17 has ‘primary care streaming’ as one of its ‘must do’ initiatives and whilst its implementation remains a local system decision, NHS strongly recommends that trusts consider better use of GPs on the patient pathway to improve patient access to primary care (which may include co-location of services) and which will also therefore aim to ease pressures on A&E services.