General Practitioners (Hansard, 13 January 2004)

§ Mr. Burstow
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) general practitioner partnerships and (b) single-handed practices have closed in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority in each of the last six years. [144319]

§ Mr. Hutton
This information is not collected. Successive annual censuses, published as "Statistics for General Medical practitioners in England", which is available at www.doh.gov.uk/public/stats1.htm, shows a steady trend towards larger partnerships with more general practitioners working in the national health service than ever before.

§ Dr. Murrison
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the need for general practitioner pay adjustments in areas not covered by the new General Medical Services contract. [144447]

§ Mr. Hutton
The benefits of the new general medical services (GMS) contract are potentially available to all general practitioners. However, over 40 per cent. of GPs have opted, over a period of time, for locally agreed personal medical services (PMS) contracts. In order that these GPs can also benefit from the key provisions of the new QMS contract, it has already been agreed, and communicated to the profession, that similar benefits will also be available to PMS practices. The benefits for which they will be eligible areComparable new investment to that proposed for QMS Comparable investment for delivering quality outcomes Improved seniority pay Improved pension benefits Increased investment in and modification to information management and technology systems More flexible premises arrangements The same ability to opt out of out of hour responsibilities
Therefore, comparable arrangements will be available to all GPs under either the new QMS or PMS contracts.

§ Mr. Bailey
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of general practitioners who will retire in the next five years. [1144604]

§ Mr. Hutton
Information on the estimated number of general practitioners who will retire in the next five years is not available.