Written question asked by Andrew Murrison (Conservative) on Thursday, 8 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 January 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 19 January 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of cases seen in NHS walk-in centres resulted in referral to the general practitioner with whom the patient is registered in the last year for which figures are available - Inc figures and ref to www.epi.bris.ac.uk/wic.

Answer: Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of cases seen in NHS walk-in centres resulted in referral to the general practitioner with whom the patient is registered in the last year for which figures are available. [147512] Mr. Hutton: These data are not routinely collected or held centrally. The evaluation of national health service walk-in centres published by the University of Bristol in July 2002, and available at www.epi.bris.ac.uk/wic, suggested that some 13 per cent., of consultations resulted in a referral to a general practitioner. In part to address this, a growing number of NHS walk-in centres now offer access to a general practitioner, as well as the established service offered by nurses.

Secondary information