Oral Answers to Questions

Matthew Offord Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

6. What recent progress he has made in introducing GP commissioning consortia.

[Mr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)]

8. What recent progress he has made in introducing GP commissioning consortia.

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

11. What recent progress he has made in introducing GP commissioning consortia.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lansley]

To give my hon. Friend one example, last Friday I spoke to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, which has developed a commissioning support organisation with the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Parkinson’s UK. The voluntary sector can therefore be involved directly in helping GP consortia to commission for those critical diseases more effectively. My hon. Friend might have seen what Sir Stephen Bubb, the chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, said last week:

“These reforms could herald a new and dynamic relationship between local GPs and charities that both deliver good services and act as a powerful voice for patients.”

[Mr Offord]

My constituents in Hendon are eager to see the improvements in health services that I believe GP commissioning will bring about. Will my right hon. Friend give examples of where GPs have had the freedoms and responsibilities that we can expect in Hendon?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend might like to speak to general practitioners in Redbridge in London who, as a pathfinder consortium, have been pioneering GP-led commissioning for 18 months. They have redesigned care for patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease, and are shifting care in ophthalmology and dermatology to primary care settings. They are demonstrating how this form of locally and clinically-led commissioning is more responsive to patients and more effective.