Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the letters from NHS England and NHS Improvement to GP practices dated 17 March 2020 and 4 August 2020, when additional costs related to COVID-19 borne by dispensing GPs will be reimbursed.

Dispensing practices continue to be reimbursed for additional costs related to COVID-19 in the same way as non-dispensing practices. At the beginning of the pandemic the COVID-19 support fund for general practice (GP) reimbursed practices for additional expenditure they incurred for absence cover, bank holiday opening and the costs of some consumables.  A further £270 million has been made available from November 2020 until September 2021, allocated to systems and ring-fenced exclusively for use in GP to ensure practices can continue to provide the necessary care for all patients.