HC Deb 28 February 2003 vol 400 cc772-4W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the funding arrangements for primary care trusts in North Yorkshire. [98060]

Jacqui Smith

Three year allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) were announced on 11 December. The allocations made to PCTs covered by North and East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority are shown in the table.

representatives of general practitioners regarding (a) screening for sexually transmitted diseases;(b) counselling for sexually transmitted diseases; and (c) the provision of contraceptive services; [99088]

(2) what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts regarding GPs' role in screening for sexually transmitted diseases; [99085]

(3) what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts regarding GPs' role in screening for chlamydia. [99087]

Ms Blears

The sexual health and HIV strategy recommends that there are a number of service elements for sexual health care that current good practice acknowledges should be available in every general practice setting. These elements include sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing for women and assessment and referral of men with STI symptoms. However we do recognise that these service elements are not available everywhere at present and that development will be gradual. The development of non-invasive STI tests will extend the elements that can be provided in primary care.

Officials have held a number of discussions with representatives of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to discuss implementation of the sexual health and HIV strategy in primary care. The Department is funding a conference being organised by the RCGP and the Royal College of Nurses to take forward a co-ordinated approach to the teaching and accreditation of sexual health skills for primary care. The RCGP will be publishing guidelines for general practitioners on primary care provision of recommended service elements for sexual health later this year.

We have recently published a sexual health commissioning toolkit, which is available in the Library, which provides guidance for primary care trusts (PCTs) and a framework for developing sexual health services across a range of primary and specialist providers.

In addition, the NHS Confederation is taking the lead, on behalf of United Kingdom health Ministers, in developing a new contract for GPs across the UK. The negotiations with the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association will have included some discussion of the provision of sexual health services.