§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pilot schemes with end dates his Department has created in each of the last three years; what the end dates were; and if the pilot schemes have been rolled out by their end dates. [112803]
§ Ms StuartThe Department regularly instigates a large number of pilot projects across a wide range of policy areas to assess their feasibility for possible national application, generally on a three year basis. The main areas covered in the last three years, with the number of projects involved, are:
Personal Medical Services
Phase 1—with effect from April 1998: 85Phase 2—with effect from October 1999: 106General Practitioner Commissioning Groups
with effect from April 1998 for one year only: 39Walk-in Centres
with effect from March 2000: 07; to be followed by December by a further 29NHS Direct
299WPhase 1—with effect from March 1998: 3Phase 2—with effect from January 1999: 10 new schemesPhase 3—with effect from November 1999: 04 new schemesPhase 4—with effect from October 2000: 5 new schemes to followNational Booked Admission
Phase 1—with effect from November 1998: 24Phase 2—with effect from September 1999: 609 Cancer networks—with effect from September 1999: covering 43 projectsPersonal Dental Services
Phase 1—with effect from October 1998: 15Phase 2—with effect from October 1999: 23.In addition a small number of more focused studies into more discrete, but limited, topics are also proceeding.
Details of the end dates and roll-out dates of each individual scheme could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, particularly as there is no universally agreed definition of a pilot scheme in this context. However, if the hon. Member would like specific information on any individual scheme and would let me have appropriate details, I will ensure that this information is provided.