Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

POLYCLINICS

Do you want a polyclinic? It has nothing to do with placing a parrot in the reception of your local doctor.

The government is proposing a shake up in the way our General Practitioners deliver their services so that for many of us we would go to a super-surgery where there might be 25 doctors working in collaboration. The plan is for about 150 of these new clinics spread across the country, serving an area of 50,000 people. So, in theory, we could have one for Plympton and Plymstock. It would be open for private sector companies to come in and set these up.

I can understand the rationale behind getting more doctors together under one roof and being able to offer more specialist services to patients without the need to go to the acute hospital. This would have special advantages for us locally, if we did not have to trek up to the gloomy towers of Derriford. I also understand that things can never stand still and governments are right to consider new ideas.

But I would like to recommend an old maxim: if it ain't broke don't fix it! The one part of the NHS that is working well for most of us is access to GP services. Hospital experience can still be an ordeal, but our GP practices tend to be efficient and friendly. The appointment system can be irritating, and of course mistakes do happen, but given how often my 70,000 constituents visit their doctors, I receive almost no complaints about this aspect of our health service. Most of us can see the same doctor most of the time, so a relationship of trust and knowledge exists. It would be good if surgery times could be a little more flexible, but most of us find a way of accessing when the need arises.

We must not throw the baby out with the bath water. If some go-ahead practices want to join forces with others under the shelter of a polyclinic and feel that they can make it work, perhaps that should be permitted. But nobody should be forced to embrace this change just because it looks good on a Whitehall drawing board.

I am keen to learn what you think about this. Do you feel you have a relationship of trust and knowledge with your local GP, or has that already gone? What do you think of super-surgeries?

Please let me know.

posted by Nigel on Friday, March 07, 2008