HC Deb 22 July 1993 vol 229 cc288-9W
Ms Primarolo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the benefits to patients available from GP fund-holding practices relative to non-fund-holding practices.

Mr. Sackville

Fund-holding is one of the major successes of the national health service reforms and the improvements secured by fund-holders are extending widely to benefit patients in non-fund-holding practices. We are delighted at how both general practitioner fund-holders and district health authorities are seizing the opportunities of the new NHS to secure more appropriate, high-quality care for patients.

Among the benefits are shorter waiting times, better liaison between hospitals and community services when patients are discharged and more services provided in GP surgeries.