HC Deb 07 March 1989 vol 148 c492W
Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the requirement to spend 20 hours in a surgery over five days, at hours convenient to patients, as outlined in "General Practice in the National Health Service—A New Contract", will apply to general practitioners with more than one surgery site; whether the time travelling between site will be taken into account; whether set hours will be required at each surgery site; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

The detailed implementation of the policies set out in "General Practice in the National Health Service: A New Contract", including the arrangements for surgery hours, will be the subject of consultation between my officials and the British Medical Association's general medical services committee.

Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a detailed breakdown of how the new standard capitation fees for general practitioners used in the examples contained in the document "General Practice in the National Health Service—A New Contract" have been arrived at.

Mr. Mellor

[holding answer 1 March 1989]: The new capitation fee levels used for illustrative purposes in appendix F of "General Practice in the National Health Service—A New Contract" have been calculated to give effect to the Government's policy, set out in paragraph 7.3 of "Working for Patients", that capitation fees should form at least 60 per cent. of a GP's income. The average standard capitation fee per patient has, therefore, been notionally increased from £8.81 to £11.85. For the purposes of the examples it has been assumed that the increased proportion of income represented by capitation will be paid for by redistributing funds from out-of-date fees and allowances, such as seniority payments and group practice allowance. When the new remuneration system is introduced from 1 April 1990, the level of fees and allowances will have been increased by the 1989 and 1990 awards and by the increased investment in family practitioner services announced in "Promoting Better Health".