§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioners or general practitioner practices have expressed an interest in becoming practice budget holders within each authority in Wales.
§ Mr. GristThe information requested is shown in the following table: 493W
Health authority Number of general practitioners Number of GP practices Clwyd 34 6 East Dyfed 15 4 Gwent 12 3 Gwynedd 6 2 Mid Glamorgan 59 10 Pembrokeshire 11 2 Powys 14 3 South Glamorgan 26 5 West Glamorgan 47 9
§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the names of the general practitioners or practices which have expressed an interest in becoming practice budget holders in Wales.
§ Mr. GristIt would not be right to reveal the names of individual general practitioners or practices which have expressed an interest in practice fund holding. There is in any event no commitment on either side at this stage.
§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioners and general practitioner practices will be eligible to become practice budget holders within each health authority in Wales.
§ Mr. Robin CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioner practices are now eligible to become budget holders; how many have expressed an interest in budget holding; if he will name those practices.
§ Mr. GristIt is not possible to place a figure on the number of practices meeting the eligibility criteria for fund-holding status. While each practice fund will require a minimum of 9,000 patients, smaller practices are enabled to group together to attain this number. In addition to its patient list size, each practice will need to demonstrate its ability to manage a practice fund.