§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what new resources(a) were budgeted for and (b) will be made available to primary care trusts specifically to help them meet their obligations to provide out-of-hours services. [162261]
§ Mr. HuttonAdditional resources of £110 million over three years from 2003–04 have; been announced to help fund primary care trust (PCT) re-provision of out-of-hours services. The £110 million is in addition to the average of about £6,000 that will be released for each general practitioner who opts out—or some £180 million if all GPs opt out.
A further £28 million (across 2004–05 and 2005–06) is being made available for those PCTs facing the biggest challenges in developing their out-of-hours services; plus up to an additional £30 million in incentive payments will be allocated in 2004–05 to reward them for the planning and delivery of a high quality, sustainable service.