Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Paragraph: 73
Declining continuity of care in general practice is concerning and inadequately prioritised nationally.
Conclusion
We are extremely concerned about declining provision of continuity of care in general practice. We recognise the enormous pressure that GP services are under but it is unacceptable that one of the defining standards of general practice has been allowed to erode in this way. While we recognise the importance of continuity of information and accountability, and the important role that other professionals can play in providing continuity, we believe the ongoing relationship between a GP and their patients is uniquely important. The Government and NHS leaders have not paid sufficient attention to continuity of care or prioritised it effectively in national policy, which has hastened its decline.
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation and states that continuity of care is a priority for Integrated Care Systems, citing existing initiatives like the Modern General Practice Access approach, issued frameworks, and ongoing work to improve digital services and patient communication.
Paragraph Reference:
73
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Accept. The Department accepts this recommendation and agrees that this should be a priority for Integrated Care Systems. NHS England have already issued a framework to support conversations between Integrated Care System teams and GP practices or Primary Care Networks, to assess where additional support may be required to improve patient access. The ways patients can access general practice has changed, with increased use of triage to prioritise care appropriately, and remote consultations. It is important that patients are supported to access and navigate general practice services, and are not dissuaded from seeking care. The Modern General Practice Access approach from the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care puts an emphasis on better navigating patients and assessing the clinical need of all patients. Clinically urgent requests should be assessed on the same day, and when the request is not urgent, an appointment, if needed, should be scheduled within two weeks. NHS England has begun commercial work to support the rationalisation of patient-facing digital services for general practice, as well as on user research and guidance to support improvements to general practice websites and online consultation systems. NHS England also has started work to increase standardisation of language and communications to use with patients to help simplify their experience when making contact with general practice services.