Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to include a primary care incentive within the Investment and Impact Fund to help ensure that asthma patients receiving frequent courses of oral corticosteroids are referred to specialist care in line with clinical guidelines.

While there are no current plans to do so, there are two existing indicators within the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) aimed at improving the care of people with asthma. NHS England and NHS Improvement will continue to work with representatives of general practitioners (GPs) to refine the IIF. Within the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), practices are incentivised to establish and maintain a register of patients with an asthma diagnosis. The QOF also incentivises GPs to develop a written, personalised asthma plan for each patient to identify the best courses of treatment.