BMA activity in response to Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS in England
Polyclinics
Technically, the term ‘polyclinics’ refers only to London, as the Department of Health uses the term ‘GP-led health centres’ (see below) to describe the new services/facilities that are to be procured across the rest of England.
The report ‘Healthcare for London: a framework for action’ by Lord Darzi published in July 2007, made a number of recommendations including that “…new facilities – polyclinics – should be developed that can offer a far greater range of services than currently offered in GP practices, whilst being more accessible and less medicalised than hospitals”. The report envisaged that the development of 5-10 polyclinics would take place by April 2009.
A public consultation on Lord Darzi’s proposals, ‘Consulting the Capital’, was launched by the London Strategic Health Authority (NHS London) in December 2007 and closed on 7 March 2008.
In February 2008, NHS London invited PCT Chief Executives to submit expressions of interest for developing a minimum of 10 polyclinic ‘pilots’. The term ‘pilot’ is used very loosely and describes a few different scenarios that would meet the requirements of the intended programme; these are as follows:
- Existing health facilities which could be expanded or adapted;
- On-going service developments; and/or
- Services at an early stage of thinking and development.
Where London PCTs are not identified as part of the polyclinic pilot programme, they are expected to procure a GP-led health centre instead. NHS London expects polyclinics to provide a greater range of services than health centres.
For more information on BMA activity in response to polyclinics, go to the ‘London review’ section.
To find out about the work of the BMA’s press office in relation to the procurement proposals, go to the ‘Press and media activity’ section.
The BMA launched its ‘Support your surgery’ campaign on 8 May 2008, which defends and promotes NHS GP services in England. As part of this campaign, all GP practices received a pack containing posters, leaflets and stickers to help them inform the public about local plans for GP-led health centres. GP practices were encouraged to ask their patients to sign a petition in support of their local surgery. A petition with over 1.2 million signatures was presented to Downing Street in June. Find out more about the campaign.
Read the BMA press release.