'We don't need city polyclinic'

PLANS to open a new 'polyclinic' in Plymouth next year have been attacked by a top GP and city councillors.

The facility would provide healthcare and social services on one site, seven-days-a-week – but GP Dr Preston de Mendonca accused the Government of privatising the NHS by the back door with a 'Stalinist' plan for 'GP-led health centres'.

City councillors have also voiced their anger at being kept in the dark after Plymouth's Primary Care Trust (PCT) revealed this week that its plans were already well advanced. The privately-run centre would be integrated with other community- based services such as a pharmacy and social care, easily accessible to patients, and open from 8am to 8pm, seven-days-a-week.

Patients will be able to book an appointment with a GP, or just walk in, even if they are not registered at the centre.

Dr de Mendonca, chairman of the Local Medical Committee, said a polyclinic was a waste of public money and would force small GP surgeries to close.

He said: “This isn't just privatisation of the health service by the back door; it's saying 'Welcome in, guys, and help yourselves',” he said.

Councillor Mary Aspinall (Lab, Sutton and Mount Gould), said the PCT had “driven a coach and horses” through an agreement to consult the council's Health and Wellbeing scrutiny panel over major health developments in the city.

Tenders will be invited from the private sector this summer and contracts will be signed in December. The clinic is scheduled to open next year.

“This is not the answer to a problem Plymouth has,” Dr de Mendonca said. “Perhaps it's needed in parts of London, but it isn't needed here.

“There's a high amount of anxiety and resentment in the profession. I wouldn't like to be in a practice close to one of these polyclinics, because they'll suck away my patients and leave me with only those who are a difficult workload.

“If you take away the 'Martini' patients – the 'Anytime, any place, anywhere' ones who don't care which doctor they're seen by – you'll destabilise GP practices.

“We could end up like the post offices. The Government creamed off the easy, high-volume, high- profit parts of the post office business, and post offices found themselves closing.”

Dr Peter Rudge, chairman of the PCT's Professional Executive Committee, defended the new centres.

“This is a fantastic thing”, he said. “People sometimes complain they can't get to see their GPs. We're going to increase the number of GPs and their hours. It's good news.

“Hopefully it will fulfil the needs of the 13 per cent of Plymouth people who do not say they are satisfied with the service they get from GPs”, he went on.

Dr Rudge said that many patients would find it more convenient to go to the polyclinic than to visit Derriford's outpatient department.

“At outpatients the diabetes patients all get urine-dipped and weighed and told, 'We'll see you in six months'. They don't need to go to Derriford for that”, he said.

“There has to be a change of culture about what we want from hospital services and what we want from a GP.”

However, Dr de Mendonca said combining several services would not make them work any better.

“Plymouth had a bit of a go at that with the Cumberland Centre in Devonport”, he said. “What's happened is that it hasn't really blossomed.

“They wanted outpatients to go to the Cumberland Centre, but consultants said that wasn't practical because they had to take all their equipment with them. Plymouth isn't a very big city, and it's not difficult to get to Derriford Hospital. The majority of people who visit a GP don't need sophisticated tests”, he added.

He accused the Government of 'Stalinist' tactics and of destroying the health service the Labour Party itself had built up. “We've had record investment in the NHS, but when you look around you have to ask, 'Where has it gone?' ”