§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been made available to district health authorities since 1 April 1991 to develop locality commissioning; and how much money has been spent in the same period on fund holder management allowances.
§ Dr. MawhinneyDistrict health authorities' prime task is to the best possible quality, value for money services for their resident populations and should use all of their resources to this end. Over £14 million has been made available by the National Health Service Management Executive since April 1991 to support the development by district health authorities of various aspects of purchasing, including locality arrangements. The amount of money allowed for fund holder management arrangements is shown in the table.
Year £ million 1991–92 14.1 1992–93 29.4
§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications have been made(a) nationally and (b) in Stockport jointly by a fund-holding practice, a district health authority and a social services department to establish a joint locality commissioning agency for health and social care with a small geographical area; to what extent such applications on an experimental basis are consistent with national policies; and which applications have been granted.
§ Dr. MawhinneyAll purchasers are required to work closely together, within the existing legislative framework, in drawing up strategies and plans to secure high-quality, appropriate services for their local populations. Close liaison with local authority social services departments is a pre-requisite for effective locality commissioning.
§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money will be made available to a group of 545W general practitioners as a management allowance if they decide to constitute a locality commissioning network as a fund-holding consortium; and how much will be made available to a district health authority to manage such a network where general practitioners decide they would prefer to constitute it through the district health authority.
§ Dr. MawhinneyEach fund-holding unit is entitled to receive reimbursement of the cost of managing a fund of up to £35,000 a year. Where practices join together in a fund-holding unit to meet the list size requirements, the unit as a whole is entitled to receive up to the same £35,000 management allowance per year as a single practice fund-holding unit. Where single practice or group fund-holding units join together to pool their management arrangements each fund-holding unit remains entitled to claim up to the maximum management allowance of £35,000 per year. Disrict health authorities' main task is to
NHS sight tests thousands 1987–88 1988–89 1989–901 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 Northumberland 66.6 71.3 26.7 27.5 28.7 34.2 Gateshead 45.6 53.2 28.3 21.0 25.7 28.0 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 89.3 96.2 46.4 33.5 37.2 39.0 North Tyneside 39.3 40.0 19.1 15.6 18.0 21.2 South Tyneside 27.9 30.6 15.7 13.8 15.4 17.3 Northern RHA 698.0 740.4 336.8 275.6 314.7 345.9 England 11,694.8 12,492.8 5,279.8 4,153.7 4,979.4 5,527.6 1 From 1 April 1989, NHS sight tests were restricted to certain groups in the population. The sight tests paid for in 1989–90 include some conducted prior to 1 April 1989 when sight tests were universally available. The remainder paid for in 1989–90 do not represent a full year under the new system, because of the delay in payments. The figure for 1989–90 is not, therefore, directly comparable with that for 1990–91.