§ 14. Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will review the working of general practitioner fund holders; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe fund-holding scheme has been a remarkable success since its introduction in 1991. In England, one in four patients are benefiting from fund holders' services. From 1 April 1994, about one in three patients will benefit.
The purpose of the scheme is to deliver better care for patients, to achieve better value for money, and to give general practitioners more influence in the service provided to their patients. There is clear evidence to show that it succeeds on all three counts.
§ 15. Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many smaller family doctor practices are planning to join the fund-holding scheme in April 1994 by joining together; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyMore than 350 small practices have expressed an interest in joining the fund-holding scheme from April 1994 by joining together as groups to hold a fund. This is the largest cohort of small practices coming forward so far.
§ 22. Dr. TwinnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners have expressed an interest in joining the fund-holding scheme in April 1994; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyMore than 800 practices are preparing to join the scheme from April 1994. From that date about one in three of the population will be covered by a general practitioner fund holder.
§ 26. Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in extending the range of services which can be provided by general practitioner fund holders.
§ Dr. MawhinneyFrom 1 April 1993 fund holders have been able to purchase community health services from their patients, and can receive payment from the fund for performing secondary care procedures at practice level. We keep the range of services for which fund holders can contract under constant review.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision exists(a) to assess whether a fund-holding general practitioner practice was over-funded in its initial year of operation and (b) to recover funds from a fund-holding practice that has been overfunded.
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§ Dr. MawhinneyRegional health authorities are responsible for setting fair budgets for general practitioner fundholders. If budgets are set incorrectly, for example because of data problems, regions agree with fund holders how to resolve the problem. Excessive surpluses can be returned at the end of the year and regions hold contingency reserves for cases where budgets are set too low.