HL Deb 28 October 1993 vol 549 cc102-3WA
Lord Ironside

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many general practices of physicians are currently registered in the United Kingdom and

  1. (1) how many of these have BS 5750 accreditation;
  2. (2) how many of the remainder have applied for BS 5750 accreditation; and

Whether assessments of applications for BS 5750 accreditation by general practices of physicians in the United Kingdom are carried out by the Department of Health or by third party assessors appointed to act on their behalf; and

Who carries out BS 5750 assessments covering applications for accreditation by general practices of physicians and how long it takes to give approval.

Viscount Goschen

There are around 11,000 general medical practices in the United Kingdom. The Government do not know how many of these have obtained or applied for certification to BS 5750, as this information is not collected either by my department or by the Department of Health. The Department of Health do not carry out assessments for certification of medical practices, nor appoint third party assessors to do so on their behalf.

The decision to seek BS 5750 certification is a matter for the practice itself. Assessments of applicants for BS 5750 certifications may be carried out either by accredited bodies (those authorised by the President of the Board of Trade on the recommendation of the National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies) or by non-accredited bodies. I understand that no certification body has yet applied for accreditation in relation to the certification of medical practices. It follows, therefore, that no practice has been assessed by an accredited certification body, but it is possible that practices may have been assessed by non-accredited bodies. The time taken to obtain certification depends on many factors, including the extent to which the organisation already has documented systems, and how quickly it can implement any changes which are necessary to bring it into line with the standard.