GP direct access guidance

The recently published planning guidance includes an action to commission a significant expansion of GP direct access, ensuring that GPs can access core diagnostics directly bypassing the need for secondary care referral and benefiting patients by leading to earlier diagnosis. In support of this, NHS England has published two pieces of guidance:

1. Guidance published in November 2022 promotes direct access to a selection of imaging tests for patients who do not meet the threshold for an urgent suspected cancer referral but may have cancer.
2. Guidance published in December 2023 promotes direct access to diagnostic tests for patients with clinical features of suspected chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma or heart failure.

Patient stories and a range of resources to support with GP direct access are available on the GP Direct Access FutureNHS workspace. Any queries can be directed to england.gpdirectaccess@nhs.net.