§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the new general medical services contract on the prescribing of statins in primary care for patients with high cholesterol levels. [152833]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe quality indicators for the new general medical services contract include cholesterol management for patients with coronary heart disease. This will reinforce general practitioners' current work to deliver the quality standards set out in the national service framework for coronary heart disease, which are driving the present increase in statin prescriptions, with an estimated saving of 6,700 lives per year and preventing many more people from having heart attacks.