Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the universal restart of spirometry testing in primary care prior to the establishment of community diagnostic centres.

Systems have been asked to work towards restoring asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) registers and spirometry checks for adults and children to pre-pandemic levels in 2022/23. The Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) for 2022/23 includes respiratory indicators in relation to the diagnosis of asthma and COPD which was fully re-instated in April 2022.

For people with a diagnosis of asthma, the QOF sets thresholds for maintaining a record of patients with either a record of spirometry and one other objective test between three and six months after diagnosis, and within six months of registration for those newly registered with a diagnosis of asthma but no record of objective tests performed at the date of registration.

For those with COPD, the QOF asks practices to maintain a record of people with a diagnosis on or after 1 April 2021 whose diagnosis has been confirmed by quality assured post bronchodilator spirometry between three months before or six months after diagnosis or within six months of registration, in addition to patients with a clinical diagnosis on or after 1 April 2021 who are unable to undertake spirometry.