Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations contained in the Health Services Safety Investigations Body's report entitled Digital tools for online consultation in general practice.

While patient safety incidents related to online consultation tools are very rare, even one is too many, and the Government takes these very seriously. NHS England produced guidance on the implementation of digital services in May 2024. The guidance provides key rules to help guide practices on how best to implement services to reduce risks and improve patient safety, in line with the recommendations made in the Health Services Safety Investigations Body's (HSSIBs) report. The Government welcomes the HSSIB’s work to support patient safety in primary care.