Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on extending the length of appointment slots and increasing the number of appointments bookable for each GP each day.

David Mowat

General practitioners (GPs) are required to provide essential services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients within core hours. Length of appointment slots and number of bookable appointments is determined by individual GP practices. The Department has not had discussions with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on these matters.