To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the trend in the number of community pharmacies in England receiving payments for delivering agreed additional hours between 2004-05 and 2005-06, as shown in table 12 of the General Pharmaceutical Service (Annual Bulletin) 2005-06; and how many community pharmacies provided additional agreed hours in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06, broken down by primary care trust area; (106165)

The proportion of community pharmacies overall providing additional agreed hours for example, in the evening or at weekends declined from 45.5 per cent. in 2004-05 to 31.9 per cent. in 2005-06.

This continues a trend seen in previous years although the change between 2004-05 and 2005-06 is more marked. However, this change may be offset by 1,432 new out of hours services provided by pharmacy contractors as a local enhanced service for the first time in 2005-06. Some of these new services may have replaced previous agreements for additional hours.

The change may also be attributed to the increase in a community pharmacy’s minimum contracted hours from 30 to 40 hours per week from 1 April 2005 and to those contractors who have opened pharmacies for at least 100 hours per week under reforms to the control of entry system introduced from April 2005.

Tables will be placed in the Library showing the number of community pharmacies in England receiving payment for additional agreed hours as at 31 March 2005 and 31 March 2006 by primary care trust (PCT) area.

These tables update information at national level contained in table 12 of the statistical bulletin “General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1996-97 to 2005-06”, first published by the Information Centre in November 2006. These data are compiled from annual returns from primary care trusts and have not previously been published by PCT.

In compiling these data, it is apparent that PCTs have interpreted the information requirements differently. Some PCTs stated the total number of community pharmacies providing both types of additional agreed hours services, while other PCTs stated the number of community pharmacies providing any such additional service. Caution should therefore be exercised in comparing individual PCT data. This consistency issue refers only to the final column in each of the tables being placed in the Library. However, this does not affect the information set out in table 12 of the statistical bulletin relating to the numbers of pharmacies receiving payment for agreed additional hours which is considered to be accurate.

Information requested on additional agreed hours each PCT has agreed with community pharmacies is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the (a) optimum and (b) actual level of enhanced services being commissioned by primary care trusts under the community pharmacy contract; (106130)

Table 9 of the NHS Information Centre’s statistical bulletin “General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1996-97—2005-06” shows that in 2005-06, the first year of operation, 16,920 local enhanced services were provided by community pharmacies under the new contractual framework. Appendix A to the bulletin breaks this information down by primary care trust. Out of 303 primary care trusts, 241 (80 per cent.) commissioned such services. A copy of the bulletin has been placed in the Library.

Primary care trusts determine which, if any, of these services they commission in the light of their assessment of pharmaceutical needs, available resources and health priorities locally.