§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards the Government's target of introducing three to five-year agreements between health care teams and hospitals. [76033]
§ Mr. DenhamGuidance issued in October 1998 set out how we expect health authorities, primary care groups and National Health Service trusts to work together and with social services, users and carers and others to develop and implement long-term service agreements.
All service agreements beginning April 1999 are to be set in the context of the longer-term relationships and objectives being established through health improvement programmes. Fully fledged long-term service agreements are to be developed through a rolling programme. The new primary care groups have been asked to aim to develop at least two such agreements for the period beginning April 1999.