§ Mr. David MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total sum paid by the Scottish Home and Health Department to the firm GPASS for computerising health centre records; and how many general practitioners and how many sites are covered by the work done.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythGPASS is an NHS-managed and funded computerised administration system for general practitioners and is in direct competition with commercial suppliers of GP computer systems. The cost of developing and maintaining the system is therefore commercially confidential and it would be inappropriate to divulge this information. The latest figures available indicate the GPASS software is used by 2,212 GPs in 622 practices which equates to nearly 66 per cent. of GPs and 55 per cent. of practices in Scotland.