HC Deb 24 April 2002 vol 384 cc369-70W
Dr. Richard Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the advantages of withdrawing from NHS consultants with whole time NHS contracts the option of undertaking limited amounts of private work under his review of the consultants' contract. [51266]

Mr. Hutton

We made clear in the NHS Plan that consideration had been given to buying out the bulk of private practice nationally. Analysis suggested this would probably cost at least £700 million and would be unlikely to work in practice. The Government therefore proposed that for an initial period, perhaps seven years, all newly appointed consultants would be restricted from undertaking similar work outside the NHS. After this

Number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England for atypical antipsychotics, other antipsychotics and all antipsychotics, 2001
Prescription items (thousand)
Health authority in which item was dispenced Atypical antipsychotics Other antipsychotics All antipsychotics
Avon 35.2 57.5 92.7
Barking and Havering 13.6 15.9 29.5
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey 37.3 36.4 73.6
Barnsley 6.7 14.4 21.1
Bedfordshire 19.2 22.7 42.0
Berkshire 25.3 32.6 58.0
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich 19.9 24.9 44.7
Birmingham 40.4 63.9 104.3
Bradford 19.6 31.8 51.4
Brent and Harrow 18.5 18.1 36.6
Bromley 2.1 3.0 5.1
Buckinghamshire 21.5 27.2 48.7
Bury and Rochdale 16.1 34.6 50.7
Calderdale and Kirklees 25.5 32.3 57.8
Cambridgeshire 24.8 36.5 61.3
Camden and Islington 16.1 20.7 36.8
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 14.7 34.7 49.4
County Durham and Darlington 21.1 45.1 66.2
Coventry 19.0 15.4 34.4
Croydon 15.8 15.9 31.7
Doncaster 6.8 20.7 27.6
Dorset 22.2 42.2 64.5
Dudley 6.8 22.6 29.4
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow 24.7 32.6 57.3
East Kent 25.7 32.8 58.5
East Lancashire 21.7 39.4 61.1
East London and the City 26.0 28.6 54.6
East Riding and Hull 21.5 36.4 57.9
East Surrey 10.7 19.8 30.4
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove 34.1 49.1 83.2
Gateshead and South Tyneside 13.7 23.7 37.4
Gloucestershire 14.6 33.1 47.8
Herefordshire 3.3 10.9 14.2
Hertfordshire 36.6 40.4 77.0
Hillingdon 6.1 8.9 15.1
Isle of Wight Portsmouth and South East Hampshire 28.5 39.9 68.4

initial period the right to undertake private practice would depend on fulfilling job plans and NHS service requirements. The concept of a maximum part-time contract would be abolished. The relationship between NHS work and private practice remains under discussion as part of the negotiations on a new consultant contract.