§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been received in management allowances by each general practitioner fundholding practice for each financial year since its establishment.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested is not available centrally. The monitoring of individual fundholder's management allowances is the responsibility of individual health boards as part of their role in monitoring the overall performance of fundholders in management of their fund. The allowance has a maximum level—£35,000 for 1994–95 which no practice can exceed.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures are being taken in each health board area in Scotland to promote general practitioner fundholding; how many general practitioner fundholding practices are currently operating within each health board area; and how much it has cost for each health board to promote this policy.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested on current numbers of operational GP fundholding practices is as set out in the table. Each health board is responsible for the promotion of GP fundholding in its area and decides its own measures to promote the scheme. The expenditure incurred is largely indirect costs which are not separately identifiable within overall health board expenditure.
Number of GP fundholders currently operational Argyll and Clyde 5 Ayrshire and Arran 4 Borders 2 Dumfries and Galloway 1 Fife 4 Forth Valley 4 Grampian 31 Greater Glasgow 11 Highland 3 Lanarkshire 15 Lothian 18 Orkney — Shetland — Tayside 9 Western Isles — Scotland 107
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the general practitioner fundholders currently operating in Scotland, for each health board area, and the dates when these practices were established.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 January 1995]: According to the latest information provided by health boards there are currently 107 operational fundholders in Scotland. As listing all with dates of establishment would be rather lengthy I shall arrange for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money has been spent on670W management allowances for general practitioner fundholders for each health board area during the financial year 1993–94; and how much the Scottish Office estimates will be spent on general practitioner fundholder allowances during the financial year 1994–95.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested is given in the table. GP fundholding has delivered many improvements in quality of care for patients. The costs of the management allowance—at about 2 per cent. of budgets set represents excellent value for money.
The estimated expenditure for 1994–95 is based on health board forecasts. GP practices can be approved for entry to the fundholding scheme at any point during the year and therefore the estimate of expenditure for 1994–95 may underestimate actual expenditure.
Health board 1993–94 £000 1994–95 £000 (estimated) Argyll and Clyde 169 175 Ayrshire and Arran 131 140 Borders 54 80 Dumfries and Galloway 32 95 Fife 84 153 Forth Valley 135 169 Grampian 1,006 1,190 Greater Glasgow 275 509 Highland 100 105 Lanarkshire 418 543 Lothian 428 717 Orkney — — Shetland — — Tayside 282 322 Western Isles — — 3,114 4,198 1. The expenditure includes both revenue and capital components.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment the Scottish Office has made of the impact of general practitioner fundholding on patient care.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 January 1995]: The Scottish Office has provided funding for an independent evaluation of the impact of GP fundholding on patient care.
This evaluation is currently being carried out by a team led by Professor John Howie from the department of general practice at Edinburgh university. The final report is due for publication during 1995.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what target has been set by the Scottish Office for the number of general practitioner fundholding practices for each health board area in Scotland.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe Scottish Office has not specifically set a target number of general practitioner fundholding practices for each health board area in Scotland. However, all health boards other than Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles have agreed with the NHS Management Executive an objective of achieving at least 30 per cent. coverage of the population by 1995–96.
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