§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report, the information known to him, for each of the past five years, where general practitioners' surgeries have been closed for failing to reach acceptable standards.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThere is no specific power to close the practice premises of a general medical practitioner where they are not deemed by a family 333W practioner committee to be proper and sufficient. Such a matter would fall to be dealt with under the Service Committees and Tribunal Regulations 1974.
§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is taking steps to seek to improve the standards of general practitioner records and to seek to ensure their maintenance and in a form which facilitates linkage with hospital records and those kept by other health workers in the community.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeGeneral medical practitioners are required under their terms of service to keep adequate records of the illnesses and treatment of their patients on forms supplied for the purpose by the family practitioner committees. We are currently studying the requirements for exchanges between family practitioner services and hospital and community health services. We are also considering in the light of the recent report of the collaboration working party ways in which GPs and others in the health service can improve communications and the shared use of information, whilst respecting and protecting the confidentiality of health information.
§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to introduce legislation to introduce a compulsory retirement age for general practitioners.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe are still considering this question.
§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the full costs of attendance of general practitioners receptionists at training courses are now met by the family practitioner committee or health authority concerned.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeUnder the provisions of the statement of fees and allowances a general medical practitioner is eligible to receive by way of direct reimbursement 70 per cent. of the cost of sending a member of his staff on a course specifically designed for the training of receptionists and organised by one of the approved bodies. The balance of the cost is indirectly reimbursed on an average basis through the expenses element in the gross capitation and other fees paid to the general practitioner. To the best of my knowledge all family practitioner committees comply with these arrangements.
§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the efficiency of general practitioners in recording the incidence of notifiable diseases.
§ Mr. John PattenWe have no evidence to suggest that the arrangements for reporting notifiable diseases are not working efficiently.
§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he intends to remove the statutory obligation on medical practitioner committees to make appointments to single-handed general practitioner posts even if no suitable applicant is available.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe are not aware of any particular problem which has arisen under the present arrangements, which have existed for many years. We will, however, consider the need to remove this obligation from the Medical Practices Committee when a suitable opportunity arises.
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§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is monitoring the activities of family practitioner committees and health authorities in discharging their duties to ensure that patients are seen by their general practitioners in surgeries of an acceptable standard.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe terms of service of general medical practitioners require them to provide proper and sufficient accommodation at their practice premises and it is for the family practitioner committee to judge whether this obligation is met in individual cases. We issued further guidance to FPC's on the discharge of these responsibilities in December 1984. It allowed a withholding or abatement of rent and rates reimbursement where premises do riot reach an acceptable standard. We shall be reviewing the effects of introducing the revised standards at the end of this year. Surgery accommodation in health centres is mainly a matter for health authorities and, with few exceptions, it is of an acceptable standard.