§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for restricting the role of community health councils in representing the public in future National Health Service contracts and fund-holding general practices.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe role of community health councils (CHCs) will remain fundamentally unchanged. District health authorities will be expected to take careful368W account of the views of their resident population on the overall pattern of service which they plan to secure through their contracts. CHCs will play an important role in this. Fund-holding general practititioners, being in direct touch with the patients they serve, will have less need of an intermediary in this respect.