§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the Government initiatives in the primary care system to address coronary heart disease. [110353]
§ Yvette CooperPrimary care initiatives have an important role to play in health promotion and in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD). The main risk factors are smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and poor diet. Since 1990, the terms of services for general practitioners has obliged them to provide opportunistic health promotion services to patients, including advice about the significance of diet, exercise and the use of tobacco. A locally based health promotion programme for GPs was also introduced from October 1996.
The National Priorities Guidance (NPG), which sets the Government's aim and objectives for the National Health Service, highlights CHD and smoking as key priorities for modernisation. The NPG directs health authorities and primary care groups to develop services for smoking cessation. Both primary care groups and individual practices should be working closely with these specialist services.
On 2 February, my hon. Friend the Minister of State announced the launch of the National Primary Care Development Team, a major initiative to enable primary care to cut unnecessary deaths, improve patient access and tackle waiting lists and times. The primary care groups and trusts in this scheme will commit themselves to tackling CHD. In addition, the Government will publish shortly a National Service Framework for CHD, the first ever comprehensive plan to deal with all aspects of this disease. It is an ambitious 10 year strategy that will address both prevention and treatment of CHD, in which primary care teams will be playing a major part.