To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP appointments took place (a) in working hours, (b) during the evening and (c) at weekends in (i) Barnsley, (ii) South Yorkshire and (iii) England in each of the last five years.

Data about the number of general practitioner (GP) appointments that have taken place is not held centrally.

The Government is committed to improving access to GP and primary care services. We have invested £175 million in the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund (including £25 million sourced from the £1 billion Infrastructure Fund), to test improved and innovative access to GP services. This includes longer opening hours – such as evening and weekend hours – but also different ways of accessing services, for example telephone and Skype consultations. Across two waves of the Fund, 57 schemes will be set up covering over 2,500 practices. There are two wave two GP Access Fund schemes currently being mobilised in South Yorkshire, in Barnsley and Sheffield.