§ Mrs. Millie Millerasked the Secretary of State for Social Service what action a family may take to be certain that they receive medical attention if they are unable to change their general practitioner within the period of one month specified by the Family Practitioner Committee when supplying forms EC4B.
§ Mr. MoyleUntil accepted by another doctor, a family seeking to change their general practitioner remain on the list of their existing doctor, who continues to be responsible for their treatment. If they have difficulty in securing acceptance by another doctor of their choice, they should seek the help of their family practitioner committee, who can if necessary assign them to a doctor in the area.
§ Mrs. Millie Millerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will institute discussions with representatives of the medical profession to ensure that family practitioner committees protect the rights of consumers in the National Health Service to change their doctors and to ensure that they are not unreasonably refused admission to the list of another practice if they have good and genuine reasons for wishing to do so.
§ Mr. MoyleNo. The right of a patient to seek to change his or her family doctor is already protected by regulations which, as required by the National Health Service Acts, also give a doctor a right to choose whether to accept a particular patient.