§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards the provision of counselling in the consultation rooms of general practitioners. [15938]
§ Mr. MilburnThe Department's policy is to support general practitioners in rendering to their patients all necessary and appropriate personal medical services including giving advice, where appropriate, to a patient in connection with the patient's general health, and in particular about the significance of diet, exercise, the use of tobacco, the consumption of alcohol and the misuse of drugs or solvents; and arranging for the referral of patients, as appropriate, for the provision of any other services under the National Health Service Act 1977. Such services can be delivered at the doctor's practice premises, or elsewhere within the doctor's practice area, according to the condition of the patient.