Lord Campbell of Croyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What role general practitioners in Scotland will have (equivalent to the role proposed for general practitioners in England under the proposals in the White Paper Designed to Care) in commissioning secondary health services. [HL135]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office (Lord Sewel)The proposals for reorganising the NHS in Scotland, set out in the White PaperDesigned to Care, assume that GPs will continue to have a key role in the design and delivery of healthcare services for patients. GPs will be fully involved in the development of their health board's health improvement plan (HIP) which sets the service strategy for both acute and primary care trusts.
In addition, the joint investment fund (JIF) provides a mechanism for ensuring that primary and secondary care clinicians have the opportunity to work together to improve services across primary and secondary care.