Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any inequality of access to primary care.

No assessment has been made. NHS England has a statutory responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of all patients and in all parts of the country.

The Government wants everyone to be able to access primary care when they need to and reducing inequalities in access to general practice services is a priority for the National Health Service. The Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, states the implementation of a new Modern general practice access model, which will make it easier for everyone to contact their practice and it will make sure arrangements for care happen on the same day. This will ensure we move away from a ‘first come, first served’ approach towards a more equitable one that benefits all patients, regardless of their chosen route of access.