§ Dr. Richard TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the cost of the National Survey of NHS Patients being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research. [51285]
§ Ms BlearsThe cost of the current survey of GP services, which the National Centre for Social Research began on behalf of the Department in January this year, is expected to be £1.6 million.
Reporting this summer, the survey will enable the Government to find out what people think of the care and treatment they receive when visiting their GP. Its coverage will consist of a sample size of 261,000 people drawn from the electoral registers.
It is designed to produce a minimum of 375 returned questionnaires from each of the primary care organisations in England, that is 150,000 completed questionnaires. The findings will inform both the national 'star' ratings and provide feedback to primary care trusts, so that where appropriate, service improvements can be initiated.