Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 25 June 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 July 2003. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 7 July 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement on the progress made in implementing the recommendations in Liberating the Talents, published in 2002.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress made in implementing the recommendations in Liberating the Talents, published in 2002. [122458] Mr. Hutton: Liberating the Talents provides a new framework for nursing in primary care to support the delivery of the NHS Plan. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine how they wish to implement the recommendations locally. PCTs are being supported by the Department to take forward Liberating the Talents through a range of work programmes. Workshops have been held in 26 of the 28 strategic health authorities for 290 PCTs, core elements of the framework have been included in the new general medical services contract and a guide one stablishing nurses with special interests has been published. The NHS University is piloting a learning programme to support nurses to provide first contact care, a new model of nurse-led managed care for patients at risk is being piloted in ten PCTs and we have set upinitiatives to support recruitment and retention of nurses in primary care.

Secondary information