HC Deb 23 March 1993 vol 221 cc751-2
4. Mr. Hunter

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of general practitioner fund holders in the Wessex health region.

Dr. Mawhinney

There are 32 fund holders in Wessex at present and a further 23 are preparing to join on 1 April.

Mr. Hunter

Can my hon. Friend confirm that there will soon be 11 fund-holding practices in and around Basingstoke, serving 65 per cent. of the population? Is that not further evidence that the argument has been won and that doctors and patients increasingly realise that the health service is better when general practitioners become fund holders?

Dr. Mawhinney

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I have no doubt that he has contributed to the thinking in Basingstoke and in the area which has resulted in that marvellous record of GP fund holders. In so doing, my hon. Friend will have acted in the best interests of his constituents, because there is no doubt that the patients of GP fund holders receive better services and appreciate those services more than used to be the case.

Mr. Gareth Wardell

Has the Minister received any representations from GP fund holders to the effect that they increasingly find themselves under pressure from patients who want to know where they will be referred, to choose their surgeon and to know—

Madam Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman must relate his question to the Wessex health region. He has not yet used the word Wessex.

Mr. Wardell

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for that advice.

Has the Minister received any representations from Wessex GP fund holders to the effect that they are under increasing pressure from patients demanding certain pills and certain surgeons to carry out certain operations? What protection will the Minister offer to those GP fund holders when that pressure in Wessex arises?

Dr. Mawhinney

Doctor magazine carried out an extensive survey of patients of GP fund holders, including those in Wessex, and found that 70 per cent. of them had experienced a decrease in waiting times, 60 per cent. had experienced improved services, including follow-up appointments, and more than 50 per cent. of fund holders were providing additional services, such as physiotherapy and consultant clinics in surgeries. Given those results and that reflection of patient satisfaction, and given that extension of GP fund holder services in Wessex and around the country, it would be surprising if those patients were complaining.

Mr. David Martin

Is my hon. Friend aware that, despite the Labour party's continued opposition to his excellent reform, experience in Portsmouth of fund holding is similar to that of my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mr. Hunter)? Will the minimum size of practices eligible to become fund holders be reduced so that fund holding can be enjoyed by practices with lists of fewer than the present minimum of 7,500?

Dr. Mawhinney

I entirely endorse what my hon. Friend says about his part of the country. The size of qualifying fund-holding practices will be reduced on 1 April and we are looking for further ways to make it possible for practices with fewer patients to combine in various ways so that the benefits of fund holding can be made as widely available as possible.