§ 53. Mr. FranksTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on general practitioners' reaction to the proposed plans for general practitioner practice budgets.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI have been encouraged by the positive response of many general medical practitioners to these proposals. We expect that general medical practitioners will increasingly see the scheme as an opportunity to improve the range and quality of service they can offer to their patients and to increase their own job satisfaction.
§ 59. Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of general practitioner practices he expects to apply, and to be ready, to manage their budgets in April 1991.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeMy aim initially is to encourage a substantial number of the larger general medical practitioner practices to apply to manage their own budgets with effect from April 1991. It is too early to estimate what the level of take-up of the scheme will be.