Dobson joins calls for referendum on future of NHS

London: Former health secretary Frank Dobson is calling for a referendum on the future of the NHS in London.

The Holborn MP is leading a growing campaign against the introduction of polyclinics in Camden and is backing calls for a poll of borough residents' views.

Patients there fear they may be among the first in the capital to be affected by the new "super surgeries". Health bosses are looking into building a polyclinic at the University College London Hospital site, which campaigners say would threaten to merge four nearby GP surgeries into the complex. The Camden trust claims that at least half of the public backs the plans.

Dobson said: "We have to try and do something to convince the Government and the primary care trust that what they are doing is unpopular and wrong."

Dobson said polyclinics will undermine the NHS, but added they may be suitable for other areas. He said: "Polyclinics are for areas that are under-doctored, but we are not badly doctored in Camden.

Varying amounts

Local health authorities in England spend widely varying amounts on treating patients with conditions such as cancer and heart disease, health researchers said on Tuesday.

The King's Fund said many of the variations it uncovered after an analysis of Department of Health data were unexplained and that some were unjustified.

The highest spending authorities pay out nearly three times as much on mental health as the lowest spending, 2.5 times as much on cancer and 2.2 times as much on circulatory diseases.