§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why all hospital patients are not afforded the same quality of care available to the patients of fund-holding GPs and whether equal speed of access to surgery and operating theatres would enable the hospitals to function at full capacity and at full cost effectiveness.
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonThe Government's aim is to provide access to healthcare for all patients where no one is disadvantaged. The focus will be on delivering high-quality healthcare which reflects local population needs and operates as fairly as possible. It is for individual hospital trusts to ensure that they provide an efficient and cost effective surgical service. We have issued guidance to the National Health Service requiring general practitioner fundholders to agree common waiting time standards for non-urgent patients with their health authorities with effect from April 1998. We have 165WA also reinforced previous guidance that hospitals should already be operating common waiting lists for urgent patients regardless of whether their commissioner is a GP fundholder or a health authority.