Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable people with work and family responsibilities to communicate flexibly with their NHS GP practice, and to make and attend appointments at mutually convenient times.

We recognise that it can be challenging to balance accessing care with other responsibilities. That’s why we have committed to modernising the general practice (GP) booking system, making it easier for patients to communicate with their practice, and why we will ensure that anyone who wants a face-to-face appointment can receive one.

Integrated care boards must ensure that out-of-hours appointments are available to patients to help them access care at convenient times, for example on weekends, evenings or bank holidays.

We will make sure the future of GPs is sustainable by training thousands more GPs across the country to take the pressure off those currently working within the system, ensure increased capacity across the National Health Service, and secure a future pipeline of GPs.