inews: GP | DOCTORS fear private firms will be brought in to run polyclinics planned for Islington, writes Tom Foot. Polyclinics are controversial new units which would bring hospital outpatient services

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Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT
Published: 30 May 2008

Islington news | Doctors | GP | Polyclinics | LMC | Islington Primary Care Trust | PCT | Health | Medical | Anita Charlesworth | Paula Khan

Warning of threat to GP surgeries

DOCTORS fear private firms will be brought in to run polyclinics planned for Islington.
Polyclinics are controversial new units which would bring hospital outpatient services and GP practices under one roof.
Dr Steven Loud, who represents Islington GPs on Londonwide Local Medical Committees (LMC), told an Islington Primary Care Trust last Thursday: “One of the real problems with
polyclinics is that private providers are likely to get the contracts.
“That will destabilise the existing practices, de-personalise practices and there will be little public accountability.”
He added: “A doctors’ surgery should remain one of many social amenities, like a post office or a baker. It will seriously inconvenience people if they are made to travel long distances to see a doctor.”
Dr Loud produced a survey carried out by the LMC showing 96 per cent of patients were in favour of keeping practices on their doorstep.
It also showed 50 per cent of patients had no idea what a polyclinic was.
He added that the LMC believed there should be collaboration between the PCT and doctors if polyclinics are to be introduced in Islington.
NHS London claims it has public support for its polyclinic plans after 51 per cent of respondents to the £15 million Healthcare for London programme backed the proposed units. But it was revealed last week that just 110 people in Islington gave their views.
Whittington Hospital consultant radiologist Dr Jackie Davis, a founding member of Keep Our NHS Public, said: “It is dangerous to make any decisions based on this level of consultation. No matter how good the principle of polyclinics might be it cannot get away from the government agenda, which is to introduce the private sector into running the health system.”
PCT chairwoman Paula Khan will tell a meeting of London- wide health chiefs in Mayfair on June 12 that Islington will argue there is a “case for change” in the NHS and that 10 pilot polyclinics should be set up across London. She will tell the meeting that Islington prefers the “hub and spoke” model of polyclinics, where patients initially attend a supersurgery and then are redistributed to specialist surgeries across the borough – as long as the need for them is decided on a local basis.
Non-executive director Anita Charlesworth said she was concerned that the “good working relationship” between the PCT and local doctors could be damaged if polyclinics were introduced.
Other major changes to health care provision include plans to alter the role of midwives, to create new-born baby clinics, and to make hospitals specialise in certain areas.

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