§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of appointments were booked electronically in the last year. [47002]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is not currently available centrally.
The NHS Plan states that there will be electronic booking of appointments for patient treatment by the end of 2005. Implementing electronic booking systems is being taken forward as a long-term, four-year, implementation project as part of the NHS Modernisation Agency's National Booked Admissions Programme. Monitoring arrangements for electronic booking are being developed as part of the implementation project work programme.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP appointments were missed in each year since 1997; and how his Department plans to reduce this. [47542]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 10 April 2002]: These data are not collected or held centrally. However, we are concerned by the impact of missed appointments on primary care services and have funded "Doctor/Patient Partnership" campaigns on this since 1997. In addition, the national primary care development team is now working with general practitioners to help them to offer more responsive and timely access for patients. For participating practices this approach has led to substantial reductions in missed appointments.