To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to have developed a national template for service specification for chlamydia screening through the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework; and what steps he will take to encourage primary care trusts to commission chlamydia screening as an advanced service. (201335)

The Sexual Health National Support Team (SH-NST) will be working closely with the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) to increase screening volumes. The SH-NST will also be working jointly with strategic health authorities to identify those areas facing the greatest challenge in commissioning services, to help drive up screening volumes. The Government plan to publish a national template later in 2008 to support primary care trusts’ commissioning of chlamydia screening from community pharmacies as part of the NCSP.