Key facts
- Groups of GP practices can claim £126 for every eligible patient supported under the program.
- The prime minister said the scheme targets patients with heart disease, frailty and lung conditions including COPD.
- Health secretary Yvette Cooper said the program sits alongside flu vaccinations and extra urgent care capacity.
- Royal College of GPs president Prof Victoria Tzortziou Brown welcomed the prevention focus but said short-term initiatives cannot deliver sustained care improvements.
Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable patients in England will receive extra support from their family doctor under a £40 million drive aimed at keeping them out of hospital over winter, the government said on November 8, 2026.
GPs will offer 300,000 people with frailty and long-term conditions health checks, medication reviews and respiratory tests intended to prevent avoidable hospital admissions. The scheme is funded by cash reallocated from existing GP budgets for 2026-27, and groups of GP practices can use £126 for every eligible patient they support.
The prime minister said the program would be targeted at patients with heart disease, frailty and lung conditions such as emphysema and other types of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Andy Burnham said he was "not going to pretend this winter will be easy" but that the program would help keep people well at home and avoid unnecessary trips to hospital. "If we want to take the pressure off our hospitals this winter, we've got to keep people well at home," he said.
Health secretary Yvette Cooper said the scheme had been designed to offer greater support to the frailest patients, and pointed to flu vaccinations, extra urgent care capacity and stronger partnerships with social care as part of winter preparations. She said thousands more GPs are in post and millions more GP appointments have been delivered this year.
Prof Victoria Tzortziou Brown, president of the Royal College of GPs, welcomed the focus on prevention and on patients at greatest risk of avoidable hospital admission. She said GPs' clinical expertise and continuity of care are central to identifying those most in need, but added that short-term initiatives alone could not deliver sustained improvements for patients with complex health needs and called for a longer-term prevention approach backed by sustainable investment in general practice.