HC Deb 25 October 1993 vol 230 cc496-7W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances fund-holding general practitioner practices are permitted to pool budgets for extra-contractual referrals with their local district health authority so as to ensure equity of treatment for patients of fund-holding and non-fund-holding general practitioners.

Dr. Mawhinney

General practitioner fund holders do not have a separate budget for extra-contractual referrals. All purchases made by general practitioner fund holders are subject to contracts. In their budgets, fund holders receive only their patients' fair share of national health service resources.

Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what criteria funds are awarded to fund-holding general practitioner practices(a) in their initial year of operation and (b) in subsequent years.

Dr. Mawhinney

The criteria for awarding funds to general practitioner fund holders are set out in "General Practice Fundholding: Guidance on Setting Budgets for 1993–94", a copy of which is available in the Library.

Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list, geographically by district health authority area, the name and address of each fund-holding general practitioner practice, the date upon which the practice achieved fund-holding status, the amount of money awarded to the practice in 1993–94 for the purchase of services covered by the fund-holding regulations, the number of patients on the practice's list on the day that its funding was allocated, and the amount of funding per capita awarded to each practice for services covered by the fund-holding regulations.

Dr. Mawhinney

This information is not available centrally.

Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average level of funding per capita was allocated in 1993–94 to fund-holding general practitioner practices in(a) England, (b) each regional health authority area and (c) each district health authority area to enable fund-holding practices to purchase those services covered by the fund-holding regulations.

Dr. Mawhinney

The average level of funding allocated to general practitioner fund holders per capita in England in 1993ߝ94 was £152.

The average level of funding allocated to GP fund holders per capita by regional health authority in 1993–94 is shown in the table.

£
Northern 166
Yorkshire 163
Trent 141
East Anglia 156
North West Thames 156
North East Thames 128
South East Thames 154
South West Thames 139
Wessex 153
Oxford 134
South Western 169
West Midlands 156
Mersey 163
North Western 143

The average level of funding allocated to GP fund holders per capita by district health authority is not available centrally.