§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts have indicated that they will not be able to assure out-of-hours cover for general practitioners in(a) April 2004 and (b) August 2004. [143188]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 11 December 2003]: None. From April 2004, general practices will be able to opt out of out-of-hours services with the agreement of their primary care trust (PCT). PCTs will not agree to opt-outs unless they have put in place proper alternative arrangements. Opting out will become a right in all but exceptional circumstances from January 2005.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of general practitioners have indicated that they intend to opt out of 24-hour cover, broken down by(a) rural practices, (b) urban practices and (c) strategic health authority. [143189]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 11 December 2003]: Primary care trusts are working with their local practices to establish the position, but full information is not available. We expect, however, that the majority of general practitioners will choose to opt-out of responsibility for providing services overnight and at weekends.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) general practitioners' surgeries and (b) single-handed general practitioners' surgeries there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each strategic health authority. [144318]
§ Mr. HuttonData on the number of general practitioner partnerships, including single-handed practitioners is published annually and is available at http://www. doh.gov.uk/public/stats 1.htm. The information requested is shown in the table. The total number of partnerships fell during the period 1998 to 2003 however there has been a steady trend towards larger partnerships and more general practitioners working in the national health service than ever before.
603W
Single-handed unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs)1 by strategic health authority England Numbers (headcount) 1998 1999 2000 UPE partners hips of which: single-handed UPE partners hips of which: single-handed UPE partners hips of which: single-handed Midlands & Eastern 2,547 726 2,531 716 2,521 706 Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire 307 40 305 36 307 38 Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire 238 57 231 47 233 52 Essex 285 96 285 100 288 105 Trent 429 98 430 100 427 93 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 240 62 232 61 225 56 Shropshire & Staffordshire 266 89 272 95 270 97 Birmingham & the Black Country 542 240 540 237 535 226 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire 240 44 236 40 236 39 London 1,736 754 1,711 735 1,691 717 North West London 469 217 464 209 458 209 North Central London 312 147 304 140 305 137 North East London 385 186 380 182 378 178 South East London 311 121 308 122 302 112 South West London 259 83 255 82 248 77 South 2,003 391 2,005 377 1,987 356 Thames Valley 299 52 304 50 300 47 Hampshire & Isle of Wight 241 28 241 28 240 26 Kent & Medway 324 139 314 126 306 113 Surrey & Sussex 379 74 379 75 375 71 Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire 322 43 326 42 325 44 South West Peninsula 254 28 254 29 254 28 Dorset & Somerset 184 27 187 27 187 27 604W605W
2001 2002 June 2003 UPE partners hips of which: single-handed UPE partners hips of which: single-handed UPE partners hips of which: single-handed England total 8,817 2,534 8,748 2,482 8,750 2,485 Number of UPEs 27,843 28,031 28,384 North 2,653 769 2,632 760 2,635 750 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear 237 48 235 43 235 45 Country Durham & Tees Valley 167 34 168 36 176 40 North & East Yorkshire & Northern 265 70 266 74 265 67 Lincolnshire West Yorkshire 378 108 375 99 378 101 Cumbria & Lancashire 375 122 368 117 365 117 Greater Manchester 562 201 555 202 553 196 Cheshire & Merseyside 440 127 439 127 437 123 South Yorkshire 229 59 226 62 226 61 Midlands & Eastern 2,506 709 2,478 698 2,477 707 Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire 309 44 301 37 304 38 Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire 230 53 229 51 230 51 Essex 278 95 274 92 269 96 Trent 426 91 424 94 420 88 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 226 53 223 48 226 54 Shropshire & Staffordshire 271 104 267 100 271 106 Birmingham & the Black Country 534 234 529 237 528 235 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire 232 35 231 39 229 39 London 1,691 717 1,675 701 1,698 717 North West London 459 200 448 191 463 202 North Central London 306 137 310 142 320 157 North East London 380 192 378 191 372 182 South East London 304 114 297 109 305 117 South West London 242 74 242 68 238 59 South 1,967 339 1,963 323 1,940 311 Thames Valley 296 39 297 41 297 40 Hampshire & Isle of Wight 238 25 240 24 235 27 Kent & Medway 305 115 299 110 289 100 Surrey & Sussex 367 69 367 60 366 61 Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire 324 42 323 38 325 39 South West Peninsula 252 27 252 28 250 27 Dorset & Somerset 185 22 185 22 178 17 1 UPEs include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.
Note:
Data as at 1 October 1998–99, 30 September 2000–02 and 30 June 2003
'Single-handed' means an UPE who is not in partnership with another UPE although many so called 'single-handers' work with another GP qualified doctor.
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics