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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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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' | 'Fantastic relationship' |
| Lord Darzi told the BBC Breakfast programme that although "most patients love their GP" a change was coming. | Lord Darzi told the BBC Breakfast programme that although "most patients love their GP" a change was coming. |
| He said: "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. | He said: "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. |
| What we're really adamant about is that continuity of care, which really makes general practice in the UK the best in the world Prof Steve Field, Royal College of GPs | |
| "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." | "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." |
| But Dr Anthony Halperin, chairman of the Patients Association, said he was not convinced by the idea of GPs and specialists working under the one roof. | |
| "What I believe patients want is to see their own GP, to have a regular relationship with a GP, and when they require further or more specialist treatment to go to a hospital," he said. | |
| "What you are now doing is interposing a third layer of a polyclinic and I really don't see any advantage for it." | |
| 'Threat' to hospitals | 'Threat' to hospitals |
| Professor Steve Field, from the Royal College of General Practitioners, told the BBC the organisation was not against the principle of polyclinics as long as the doctor-patient relationship was preserved. | |
| He said: "What we're really adamant about is that continuity of care you get in general practice, which really makes general practice in the UK the best in the world. | |
| "And what we mustn't do is undo what's great." | |
| Ministers have already said they want to establish 150 polyclinics in London. | |
| 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. |