§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional funds(a) have been made available, and (b) have been allocated for future use, to Barnet Health Authority since November 1998; and for what purposes these funds have been allocated. [77580]
§ Mr. DenhamThe table shows the additional resources for Barnet Health Authority that have been announced since November 1998.
§ Mr. DenhamThe possible prescribing of drugs by various professions, including pharmacists, is referred to in the final report of the Review of Prescribing, Supply and Administration of Medicines, which the Department issued on 8 March for consideration and comment. Copies of the report are available in the Library. We have also had preliminary discussions with various pharmacy, medical and nursing bodies about the possibility of community pharmacists supplying medicines—in particular those for certain minor illnesses—without prescriptions, but on the National Health Service.
§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the right of doctors to dispense drugs; and if he will make a statement. [77862]
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§ Mr. DenhamFrom time to time the Department receives representations from various parties about the rules governing the dispensing of National Health Service prescriptions by general practitioners in rural areas. In particular, departmental officials have recently met representatives of the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association, the Dispensing Doctors Association and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee to discuss those organisations' ideas for changes to the relevant regulations.