We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Abandon plans to create Poly Clinics and extended opening hours for GP surgeries and concentrate on maintaining good general practice and local district general hospital services.”
Details of Petition:
“This is a self explanatory petition encouraging the government to concentrate resources on local core services for children the elderly and chronically sick, and not waste resources on costly headline grabbing propsals like extended surgery opening hours.”
Read the Government’s response
In recent years, Government investment in primary care has helped deliver major improvements to the range, quality and convenience of GP services. There are now over 5,000 more GPs than in 1997. Average consultation lengths have risen from eight to 12 minutes. The great majority of patients report that they can now see their GP within a maximum of 48 hours.
But we believe there is room for further improvement. We know that many people would like to be able to see GPs in the evening and at weekends. We have negotiated changes to the GP contract to reward GPs that offer weekend or evening appointments to their patients. By the end of this year, we want to see at least half of all GP practices have extended opening hours.
The Government is also investing £250 million to provide additional GP services that deliver further improvements in access and choice for the public. The NHS is using this investment to provide over 100 new GP practices in those areas of the country with fewest GPs and greater health needs. The NHS will also be establishing over 150 new GP-led health centres in easily accessible locations, which any member of the public will be able use to see a GP between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.
There have been highly misleading claims that these new services will replace existing family doctor practices. This is simply not true. The new health centres will be in addition to existing GP services. People will be able to stay registered with their local GP, but use the centres at times or when they are in places that make it difficult to visit their own GP. The new GP practices will give people extra choice, but will not stop anyone from choosing to stay with their current practice.
There have also been claims that the Government is seeking to introduce ‘polyclinics’ across the country. Again, this is not true. In some areas, the local NHS has been working with the public and with GPs and other health professionals to explore ways of bringing primary care together with a range of other health services (such as diagnostic facilities, urgent care centres and specialist care). This includes plans developed locally, by London clinicians and by the London NHS. This can help provide fast, convenient access to a range of services in a local community. However, the Government does not have a national policy for ‘polyclinics’. The development of primary care facilities is a matter for local consultation and decision making.
The Government’s aim is simple - to give the public extra access to GP services, to provide greater choice in how people access GP services and to enable the NHS to develop services that best meet the needs of local communities.
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