§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, as a way of reducing the NHS drugs bill, he has considered arranging for general practitioners to be visited regularly by well-informed doctors or pharmacists in order to complement the information about drugs which general practitioners receive from other sources.
§ Mr. EnnalsOne of the functions of my Department's Regional Medical Service is to visit doctors and give advice about prescribing where appropriate. The measures for promoting economies in the drug bill currently being discussed with the medical profession include devising ways of improving the quality and quantity of the information provided to doctors. I hope to widen these discus-474W sions in due course so as to include the pharmaceutical profession.