It will be for the practice to determine how to use these moneys which may be personal reward to individuals or additional investment to further support service development and staff training. To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that patients will have an input into decisions over access to their medical records when electronic patient records are introduced. A number of electronic record demonstrator projects are looking at this aspect of electronic patient record development. Any mechanisms put in place will need to reflect the requirements of Data Protection legislation and generally common law obligations of confidentiality. To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the benefits arising from the introduction of primary care trusts.
PCTs have a range of freedoms and flexibilities greater than any other health service body.
They provide improved support to practices and clinicians, commission and deliver improved services through the integration of primary and community health care and shape services in response to the needs of their local populations. They bring decisions about services closer to patients and local communities, taken by those who understand their patients' needs. PCTs are demonstrating an ability to balance local knowledge against capacity to manage the provision of services and the management resources to deliver. Due to the flexibility PCTs have to form responsive local services, there exists a large variety of initiatives across the country. One hundred and twenty-four new PCTs became operational on 1 April 2001 bringing the total number of PCTs to 164.