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Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT
Published: 13 June 2008

Thousands oppose polyclinics

THOUSANDS of patients in Islington have signed a petition calling on the government to halt the use of private companies in running doctors’ surgeries.
The action is part of a nation-wide Support NHS General Practice petition launched by the British Medical Association on Monday, due to be delivered to Downing Street yesterday (Thursday).
Doctor Steven Loud, representing Islington doctors for the Islington London Medical Committees, reported a “huge response” to radical reforms to the NHS, which include the introduction of polyclinics – bringing together GPs and hospital outpatient services under one roof – that could be run by the private sector.
A poll of local surgeries reported a surge of interest in the petition this week. Many said they had run out of space and had applied for more forms from the BMA.
Wendy Savage, of Keep NHS Public, who lives in Vincent Terrace, said: “If you put GPs in a polyclinic you will lose the crucial relationship between a doctor and his patient. There is not a shred of evidence for this policy, nor has there even been a hypothetical financial plan for how polyclinics are going to be funded.”
In the model likely to be adopted by the Islington Primary Care Trust, patients would make the polyclinic the first port of call for a basic check-up before being referred back to other specialist surgeries across the borough. It amounts to the biggest ever change in the way people access doctors in the area.
Ms Savage added: “When the doctors opted out of the NHS in 1948 they did so because they were suspicious of the government. A lot has changed since then. Doctors are not in the business to make money. You go to the City for that.”

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