Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of permitting GP practices to administer covid-19 tests on their own staff to reduce waiting times for (a) such staff and (b) members of the general public at covid-19 testing centres.

The Department is working with National Health Service and the general practitioner (GP) community to deliver a trial providing swab testing in a small number of GP surgeries across England. We are working with the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England to deliver this in a way that works for both GPs and for their patients. Safety is our number one priority and this trial is only being delivered within the existing ‘COVID-19 safe’ working arrangements of GP surgeries which have the appropriate infection control measures in place. This does not replace any of the existing routes for accessing testing – instead it adds to the available routes. The aim of this is to make it as easy as possible for everyone who needs a swab test to get one.