PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
General Practitioners: Bristol (11 January 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England has taken to ensure the smooth transition of hard copy records of patients who need to re-register from St Martin's Surgery, Knowle, Bristol, to other practices as a result of that surgery's closure.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

NHS England advises that its south west office funded a Local Enhanced Service contract, which ensured that St Martin’s Surgery had robust governance methods in place. That included logging all notes and maintaining a log book covering receipt/transfer of notes. Final sign-off was made by directors of NHS England south west and the Caldicott Guardian.

When a general practitioner practice closes, NHS England is responsible for ensuring that patients have continued access to NHS primary medical services. They can do this either by allocating patients to another practice in the area or by advertising for another contract holder.

NHS England determines both the services required in the area and the provider best able to deliver them. Under section 13Q of the National Health Service Act 2006, NHS England is required to involve those to whom the services are being or may be provided in the process of deciding how those services are to be delivered.

Answered by:
David Mowat (Conservative)
19 January 2017