§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he has given to the chairman of the Wakefield family practitioner committee on requests made to the chairman of the family practitioner committee to discuss the White Paper, "Working for Patients;" and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 16 May 1989]: None, although the chairman did send me copies of a recent exchange of correspondence with the hon. Member. I note that the chairman offered to arrange a meeting between representatives of the committee and hon. Members representing local constituencies to discuss the future implementation of the White Paper, which is the task assigned to the committee. I hope that hon. Members will take up that offer and I am writing to the chairman to encourage him to pursue it.
§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department received a request for copies of the White Paper, "Working for Patients," to be supplied to members of the Wakefield family practitioner committee; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 16 May 1989]; Copies of the White Paper were sent to all family practitioner committees at the time of publication. It was for each committee to arrange its own internal distribution and to obtain any additional copies it might need.
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§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has received from the Wakefield family practitioner committee any proposals for a health profile giving details of demands on services; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 16 May 1989]: No. We have recommended that all family practitioner committees should prepare a health profile of the area in collaboration with the district health authority as part of their own planning process. I understand that such a document in respect of Wakefield is in the course of preparation. We do not ask that the document should be sent to the Department except at the time of a performance review.