§ Mr. Michael MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what adjustments he intends to make to the concept of indicative drug budgets to ensure that general practitioners who have high cost patients, such as the elderly and the chronic sick, on their practice lists are not financially penalised for prescribing treatment.
§ Mr. MellorThe amount allocated to a practice for its indicative prescribing budget will fully reflect the presence on the practice's list of patients, such as the elderly and the chronic sick, who need a greater volume of drugs or more expensive drugs than others. No doctor will be penalised for prescribing necessary treatment to any patient. We expect doctors to examine their prescribing patterns to ensure that they prescribe only when and for as long as necessary and, where there is a choice of equally effective products, to prescribe the cheapest.