Future of singlehanded general practices: The NHS has room for variety

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7512.353-b

BMJ 2005;331:353 (6 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7512.353-b

Letter

Future of singlehanded general practices

The NHS has room for variety

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—In his editorial on the future of singlehandedgeneral practices Majeed makes a plea for the continuation ofsingle-handed general practice in UK primary care.¹

I have experienced the growth of a practice from a small toa large partnership, then the trauma of divorcing myself frompartnership and creating a singlehanded practice, which throughnecessity had to grow to accommodate the requirements and, sometimes,inappropriate demands of the NHS. I thus have much practicalexperience of the benefits and problems associated with practicedynamics.

Some 15 years ago I proposed to our local general practitionersthat we should continue working in our own local practices butbe linked to a central hub for administrative and "shared" resources.Such shared resources could be services currently provided underenhanced services—minor operations, family planning, andchildhood immunisations, to name but a few. Maintaining independentbut linked practices allows individual doctors . . . [Full text of this article]

Nigel Higson, general practitioner

Hove, West Sussex BN3 3DX surgery@goodwoodcourt.org