§ Mr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many general practitioner fundholders in(a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole have over-run their budgets; and what was the average amount of the over-run in each of the last two years.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 15 February 1995]: There are as yet no operational fundholders in Inverclyde area. In 1992–93, of a total of 10 GP fundholding practices in Scotland, one fundholding practice, located in the Grampian health board area, spent in excess of its allocated fund. The overspend was £4,754, approximately 0.5 per cent. of the allocated fund.
In 1993–94, 12 GP fundholding practices of a total of 70 throughout Scotland spent in excess of their allocated sum. One of these practices was located in the Argyll and Clyde health board area within Strathclyde region. The average overspend was £17,840 which represented approximately 1 per cent. of the average fund allocated by the health board.
In each case, the health board reviewed the reasons for these small overspends and considered them acceptable under the regulations governing the scheme.