HC Deb 05 March 1991 vol 187 cc120-1
3. Mr. Conway

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of general practitioners are receiving target payments for cervical screening.

The Minister for Health (Mrs. Virginia Bottomley)

On 1 April 1990, 88 per cent. of general practitioners qualified for a target payment for cervical screening. I congratulate all those involved on this excellent achievement.

Mr. Conway

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that helpful reply. Obviously, the figures are encouraging. My hon. Friend will be aware that, especially in rural areas, such a degree of screening can be difficult. What are the percentage figures for the Shropshire family health service authority and what can we do to encourage it?

Mrs. Bottomley

In the Shropshire family health service authority 99 per cent. of GPs qualified for a target payment. That was a substantial achievement. Shropshire is one of 24 family health service authorities that managed to achieve that level.

Rev. Martin Smyth

Although I welcome the reasonably high overall percentage, is it true that in inner cities there is still a low take-up? What is being done to encourage a higher take-up?

Mrs. Bottomley

Some notable inner cities have made remarkable strides. For example, all Barnsley's GPs are claiming target payments for cervical cytology and child immunisation. In recognition of the needs of inner cities, for the first time the Government have made deprivation payments to inner-city GPs. We have made it clear that we want health opportunities for those in the less-advantaged areas to be as good as those in the more-advantaged areas.

Mr. Sims

Does my hon. Friend recall the fuss made by some general practitioners and their professional bodies when the contract was proposed? Does she agree that the figures that she has given to the House suggest that their fears and objections were illfounded? Can she tell us the extent to which target figures have been met in respect of child immunisation and vaccination?

Mrs. Bottomley

I endorse my hon. Friend's point. I refer him to remarks by the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook), who said that the figures were quite heroic. Many GPs thought that they would not be able to achieve them. We have seen remarkable progress in increased immunisation, vaccination and cervical cytology. At last the NHS is a health service rather than a disease service and is preventing illness.

Ms. Harman

Does the Minister agree that as well as getting more women to come forward for screening, it is important for the results to be conveyed to them promptly? One in three health authorities reports that it is unable to meet the target of getting the results back to the GP within a month. How does the Minister propose to ensure that health authorities can meet that target? Does she agree that it is unfair that women who are screened privately can get their results within a week, whereas women who are screened in the national health service sometimes have to wait for three months?

Mrs. Bottomley

The hon. Lady is right that any backlog in waiting for the result of the test is unsatisfactory. We make it clear that we want the result within a month and two out of three authorities are achieving that target. The average for authorities that are not making the results known within a month is seven weeks and we want them to do better. The hon. Lady is always the first to condemn her own health authority. She will be pleased to know that the waiting time there is three weeks.