Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of deferring checks for the early warning signs of strokes, cancers, diabetes and other illnesses for people aged over 75 on the level of long-term demand on hospitals in the NHS in England.

Following the emergence of the Omicron variant, measures were announced to increase general practice capacity and financial support to deliver an expanded vaccine programme. This includes allowing general practices to defer routine annual health checks for patients aged 75 years old and over until April 2022, where clinically appropriate. However, we continue to encourage people to come forward if they feel unwell and have any symptoms associated with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions.