Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Deferred
Paragraph: 34
Commission a review into short-term problems constraining primary care, including IT and administrative tasks.
Recommendation
The Government should commission a review into short-term problems that constrain primary care including, but not limited to: the interface between primary and secondary care, prescribing from signing to dispensing, administrative tasks e.g. reports and sick notes, day-to-day usability of IT hardware and software, and reviewing of bloods, pathology and imaging reports.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts the recommendation but shifts focus entirely from commissioning a review into short-term operational problems to discussing increases in GP speciality training places and changes to training duration (from 18 to 24 months in general practice).
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
34
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
Partially accept. The Department partially accepts this recommendation. We agree with the need to explore solutions to problems which constrain primary care, particularly given the high levels of demand and workforce pressures. However, we do not wish to duplicate work already underway. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges was commissioned by NHS England to undertake a review of the interface between general practice and hospitals. Its report was published on 9 May 2023, and key actionable insights are reflected in the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care. 1 Health Education England merged with NHS England into a single organisation in March 2023, with NHSE assuming responsibility for all activities previously undertaken by HEE. We have also completed a thorough review of unnecessary bureaucracy in general practice to determine what actions the Government could take to reduce this burden on GP time, and as a result have implemented improvements such as expanding the range of healthcare professionals who can sign fit notes. In parallel, NHS England reviewed processes and non- governmental bureaucracy which impacts upon general practice. DHSC is continuing to work across government and with the NHS to implement the solutions that emerge and has published a ‘Bureaucracy busting concordat; seven principles to reduce unnecessary burdens.’ In addition, NHS England is supporting pilots testing automation of clinical administrative processes. Further detail on this work is provided in the response to recommendation 9. This recommendation also links to recommendation 10 which has been addressed separately.
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