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Jacqui Smith (Redditch)
(Lab): I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend's
emphasis on national minimum standards to ensure high-quality
out-of-hours care for all patients, and the fact that local GPs
will be involved in the design of the system. No GP has argued to
me that they want to take back full responsibility, but they should
be involved in the design. Does my right hon. and learned Friend
think that, if new contracts are being let or contracts are being
renewed, local GPs should also have a say in who receives those
contracts?
Mr. O'Brien: I
certainly hope that we will be able to engage our local GPs,
through the various mechanisms that I mentioned, in looking not
only at the rules and the best way in which services can be
delivered locally, but at who gets those
contracts.
Commenting on
the new standards, Jacqui said:
tCalling out a doctor at
night or the weekend is a very worrying thing. We all want to be confident that
those doctors are operating to the same high standards we get from
our GPs during the day. These new standards will ensure
that. I also welcome
the proposals to involve local GPs in the design of the
service. GPs used to
have to work night and day to provide this themselves. I don’t want to go back to the
days of exhausted family doctors, but they should have a say in the
arrangements and who gets the contract to deliver
it’
Jacqui Smith MP
To contact Jacqui about this
article, please email her at smithjj@parliament.uk
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