RCGP London Faculties response to London NHS
review
Joint statement from Dr Surendra Deo (Chair, North East London),
Professor Paul Thomas (Chair, North & West London) and Dr John
Spicer (Chair, South London):
We agree that attempts should be made to
tackle fragmentation of care and improve healthcare in London but
believe it is possible to deliver improvements using a variety of
models and caution against the development of 'super surgeries' or
disease-focused 'polyclinics', which may simply co-locate
individuals without an underpinning philosophy or vision.
General practice is not something that can be
"tagged on" to other specialist services. The cardinal values of
general practice such as interpersonal care and continuity of care
must prevail. Evidence shows that patients want local personal care
rather than being treated as a number - they want to see a GP they
know and who knows them.
It is essential to engage and involve GPs in
future discussions. We commend the value of co-ordination and
integration of care led by primary health care teams and of
practices working together in federated models. We therefore urge
London GPs to show constructive leadership and use this as an
opportunity for promoting their own ambitions for improving patient
care.
ends
For more information please contact Gillian Watson in the RCGP
press office 020 7344 3135 / press@rcgp.org.uk