asked the Minister of Health what action he proposes to take to protect general practitioners from formal complaints made against a deputy acting within authorised arrangements.

Agreement with the profession on a new contract for general practitioners will result in new arrangements for accountability of deputies on the lines set out in Section 5 of the first report of my discussions with general practitioner representatives on the Family Doctors' Charter. A copy of this report is in the Library.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, which will be greatly welcomed in places like Ilford, where the emergency services are being threatened by the fact that if a deputy fails to do his duty the patient is reluctant to take action against the principal.