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Family Health Services Authorities
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected outturn is for each family health services authority for 1993-94 ; and by how much this varies from the planned expenditure for each authority.
Mr. Sackville : Details of individual family health services authority expenditure against cash limits in 1993-94 will not be available until annual accounts are submitted. Information on projected outturn for individual authorities is not collected, but is available from regional health authorities.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State on 24 March, Official Report, column 416, on what basis a family health services authority can refuse to require general practitioners to provide cover to respite centres and similar community care facilities.
Dr. Mawhinney : A family health services authority may require a general practitioner included in its medical list to provide treatment to an individual at any place in his practice area, provided there is no other doctor who, at the time of the request, is under an obligation to give treatment to that person. However, FHSAs are not required, or to require general practitioners on their medical lists, to provide general medical services cover to organisations as a whole.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued to family health services authorities, voluntary groups and local authorities relating to general practitioner cover for day centres, respite centres and other community care facilities.
Dr. Mawhinney : Guidance on ensuring that people attending various care centres have access to general practitioner services has been issued to family health services authorities and other bodies in health circular HSG 92/42 and local authority circulars 92/15 and 88/15, copies of which are available in the Library.
General Practitioners
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information regarding the income of fundholding and non-fundholding general practitioners is held centrally.
Dr. Mawhinney : Information is available centrally on the aggregate value of fees and allowances and directly reimbursed expenses paid to general practitioners ; and on
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the number of general practitioners. These data are collected by family health services authority area and do not separately identify payments to fundholding and non-fundholding general practitioners.Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is held centrally regarding the staff employed by general practitioners.
Dr. Mawhinney : Information on the numbers and categories of staff employed by general practitioners is collected bi-annually from family health services authorities and published on a regional basis in "General Medical Services Basic Statistics, England and Wales", copies of which are available in the Library. Details are also collected of the total proportional reimbursements made by FHSAs to general practitioners of the staff costs they incur.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the general practitioner fundholding practices in South Yorkshire ; and if she will give the total spent out of the allocation for each practice for 1992-93 and the current year to date.
Dr. Mawhinney [pursuant to his reply, 28 March 1994, c. 592] : I regret that my previous reply was incorrect. The information provided should have related to Trent rather than Yorkshire regional health authority. The answer should therefore have read :
There will be 286 fundholding practices in the Trent region from 1 April 1994, covering 44 per cent. of the population. Regional health authorities are responsible for managing the general practitioner fundholding scheme in their areas. For local information about South Yorkshire the hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Michael Carlisle, chairman of the Trent regional health authority.
NHS Reforms (London)
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was spent by her Department in writing, designing, printing and distributing the leaflet "NHS Changes in London--Answers To The Questions You've Been Asking" ;
(2) to how many households her Department intends to distribute the leaflet "NHS Changes in London--Answers To The Questions You've Been Asking" ;
(3) which Minister approved the contents of the leaflet "NHS Changes in London--Answers To The Questions You've Been Asking" ; (4) which Minister agreed the timing of the distribution of the leaflet "NHS Changes in London --Answers To The Questions You've Been Asking" ; and how that timing was agreed upon.
Dr. Mawhinney : The estimated cost of producing and distributing the leaflet is £150,000. It has been distributed to approximately 3.28 million households within the M25. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and her ministerial team approved the content of the leaflet and the timing of the distribution.
Private Hospitals
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many GP fundholders have contracts with independent private hospitals ;
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(2) how many GP fundholders refer a majority of their national health service patients to private or independent hospitals.Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 7 February, Official Report, column 52 .
NHS Expenditure
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current total expenditure within the national health service on treatment purchased from independent or private hospitals ; and how much is spent by FHSAs and GP fundholders.
Mr. Sackville : In 1992-93, the latest year for which figures are available, the total expenditure by national health service trusts, regional and district health authorities and family health services authorities on purchase of healthcare from non-national health service providers was £268.23 million.
Included in the figure above is £13.13 million expenditure by general practitioner fundholders on hospital
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services from non-national health service providers. FHSAs have no expenditure in respect of hospital services other than that incurred by fundholders.Notes :
1. Expenditure is not analysed to identify precisely purchases from independent or private hospitals. The figures are for "purchase of healthcare" from bodies "other than NHS bodies".
2. The figures are provisional : the summarised accounts are subject to audit by the National Audit Office.
3. Source : (i) Annual accounts of FHSAs ; and Regional, District and London Postgraduate Teaching Hospitals (Special Health Authorities) 1992-93 ; (ii) National health service trusts' financial returns 1992-93.
NHS (Private Patients)
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private patients were treated within national health service hospitals in 1992-93.
Mr. Sackville : Preliminary indications for 1992-93 are that private patients accounted for around 100,000 finished consultant episodes in national health service hospitals in England, or about 1 per cent. of total episodes.
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