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| One-stop clinics 'are the future' | One-stop clinics 'are the future' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Clinics manned by a single doctor should be replaced by one-stop health shops run by several GPs, health minister Lord Darzi has told the BBC. | Clinics manned by a single doctor should be replaced by one-stop health shops run by several GPs, health minister Lord Darzi has told the BBC. |
| So-called 'polyclinics', which house GPs alongside medical services normally offered at hospitals, are better suited to patients' needs, Lord Darzi said. | So-called 'polyclinics', which house GPs alongside medical services normally offered at hospitals, are better suited to patients' needs, Lord Darzi said. |
| He has already proposed them for London and says they would work nationwide. | He has already proposed them for London and says they would work nationwide. |
| But the British Medical Association says they will be wasteful and will undermine continuity of patient care. | But the British Medical Association says they will be wasteful and will undermine continuity of patient care. |
| 'Fantastic relationship' | |
| Lord Darzi told the BBC Breakfast programme that although "most patients love their GP" a change was coming. | |
| He said: "I think we need to separate that fantastic relationship between a patient and a doctor from where most practices now are on average four, five, six GPs working together under a single roof. | |
| "So I have no doubt in the future we are going to see a critical mass of general practitioners working together, rather than what we used to see in the past which were practices with a single-handed clinician." | |
| Ministers have said they want to see 150 polyclinics built across England. | Ministers have said they want to see 150 polyclinics built across England. |
| 'Threat' to hospitals | |
| One such centre - the Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health in west London - opened in February 2007. | One such centre - the Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health in west London - opened in February 2007. |
| As well as 18 GPs, there is an independent living service, which includes community matrons, district nurses, physios and neuro-rehabilitation teams. | As well as 18 GPs, there is an independent living service, which includes community matrons, district nurses, physios and neuro-rehabilitation teams. |
| The service, which takes referrals by the family doctors at the centre, treats a range of patients from those with diabetes and heart conditions to people recovering from strokes and elderly people who have suffered falls. | The service, which takes referrals by the family doctors at the centre, treats a range of patients from those with diabetes and heart conditions to people recovering from strokes and elderly people who have suffered falls. |
| The centres, however, may be perceived as a threat to hospitals which, under the government's market-based reforms, are now paid per patient treated. | The centres, however, may be perceived as a threat to hospitals which, under the government's market-based reforms, are now paid per patient treated. |