HC Deb 14 January 1991 vol 183 cc411-2W
Mr. Bradley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines he has issued to general practitioners about the degree of freedom they have to refer patients to whichever hospital they, or their patient, choose, whether the hospital is directly managed or a national health service trust.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

GPs will have the same freedom as now to refer patients to the hospital of their choice for the appropriate treatment. A key advantage of the NHS reforms will be improved arrangements to give practical effect to this freedom.

"Contracts for Health Services: Operational Principles"—a copy of which is in the Library—provides guidance to health authorities. It emphasises the need to consult GPs on their preferred patterns of referral.

Mr. Dorrell

The number of deaths from underlying cause of breast cancer by sex in each of the age groups 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65 + in England and Wales from 1979 to 1989 is as follows:

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