Scrutiny Committee Examines London's Health |
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Are Polyclinics the way forward or will they cost too much?
What should the NHS look like in 10 years? That’s the question being put to councillors from Ealing and across London who are coming together to look at new proposals for the future of the city’s health services. However, health care professionals have commented that the creation of polyclinics where large numbers of GPs and other health care professionals work will inevitably lead to the closure of some local GP surgeries. This would mean that patients may to travel further to see a doctor. There is also the possibility that the service would become less personal. There could also be a shift of resources from hospitals to polyclinics which could decrease the money available in the hospitals to maintain them at their current standards. There is a danger of duplication of resources on two sites - hospital and polyclinic - leading to closure of one or the other. It may be better to consider a 'virtual' polyclinic model where groups of practices join together to provide the same services that would have been offered in one building (like physiotherapy, osteopathy and minor surgery, ante-natal care, counselling and some services that are currently only occurring in hospitals.) Investing large sums of money in the development of completely new polyclinics may not be the best use of precious NHS resources. Some good structures already exist in the NHS and it would be a shame to undermine them.
The next meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be on 18 January 2008 in the City of London Guildhall, EC2P 2EJ. All meetings are open to the public and meeting papers can be viewed and downloaded from Ealing Council’s website. To submit views contact Nigel Spalding, Scrutiny Review Officer on 020 8825 8182 or email scrutiny@ealing.gov.uk
January 17, 2008 |