§ 7. Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South)What plans he has to increase the number and range of NHS walk-in centres. [102268]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Denham)Walk-in centres are a key part of our plans to modernise and to improve the access to, and the convenience of, NHS services. The first 36 walk-in 658 centre pilots were approved earlier this year. They will begin to open from January 2000, and in the following months.
I am pleased to be able to confirm that one of the first of those 36 centres will be in the constituency of my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. CunninghamI welcome the announcement about the walk-in centre for Coventry. I also welcome the additional, above—average cash allocation for Coventry, which contrasts with the record of the previous Conservative Government's treatment of Coventry's health service. Is not this a major step in the right direction—the modernisation of Coventry's health services?
§ Mr. DenhamMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The walk-in centre at the Coventry hospital site in the centre of the city is just one example of the Government's commitment to modernising the national health service in my hon. Friend's area.
In addition, a 7.2 per cent. cash increase in resources for the health authority has been announced for the coming year. The Government have also confirmed that we are determined to go ahead with a brand new hospital and medical school for Coventry.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley (Worthing, West)Will the Minister accept a welcome for the development of walk-in centres? With regard to the normal walk-in centres—GPs' surgeries—will he consider whether special attention should be given to the needs of practices with significant numbers of people over the age of 85 rather than 75? In some areas where the numbers in that age group are at levels which the rest of the country will match in 20 years there are significant delays.
If we are supposed to acknowledge the cash increase at the beginning or end of our questions, I should like to do so for West Sussex. I note, however, that the increase is below the national average. Had there not been an increase, it would have been one of the very few years since the health service was created that one had not been made.
§ Mr. DenhamThe cash increase is running at nearly twice the rate that it did in the last two years of the previous Government's term in office. The scale of the increase is as important as its provision.
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about care of the elderly. General practice has an important role to play in providing proper health care for the elderly. Many of the primary care groups and some of the first primary care trusts have identified care of the elderly and the linking of the role of GPs, social services and secondary care as their top priority for the improvement of local services. Over and above that, a number of options are available to local GPs, funded within the health system, to improve health care for the elderly. For example, a number of GPs have made use of personal medical services pilot schemes, and some standard local development schemes are in place. So, there are a number of tools for improving care of the elderly at local level. The issue can be addressed by the local primary care group together with the local health authority.