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Doctors frown at move to change GP system

Doctors' leaders criticised suggestions yesterday that many GP surgeries across England could be replaced by a network of large health centres.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 01:26 February 17, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: Doctors' leaders criticised suggestions yesterday that many GP surgeries across England could be replaced by a network of large health centres.

Government Health Minister Lord Darzi told the BBC that the days were over for single GPs working alone in a small practice.

He said the future of patient care was in large local health centres or "polyclinics", grouping together GPs, nurses and specialists.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) said the plans would duplicate care and be more expensive.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown brought leading surgeon Darzi into the government last year and gave him the task of producing a blueprint for the future of the National Health Service.

Darzi has already proposed a network of 150 polyclinics for London and will deliver his NHS plan in the summer, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the state-funded service.

The BBC said Darzi wanted to extend the network across the country.

"I'm recommending polyclinics because there is plenty of evidence ... that integrated care around the needs of the patient ... is the way that healthcare should be delivered in future," Darzi said. "I have no doubt in the future we are going to see a critical mass of general practitioners working together, rather than what we used to see in the past, which were practices with a single-handed clinician."

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