BMJ  2008;336:1161-1162 (24 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39583.414572.AD

Feature

Primary care

Polyclinics: haven’t we been there before?

Virginia Berridge, professor of history

1 Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London

Virginia.Berridge@lshtm.ac.uk

Although integrated health care has been presented as a new idea, Virginia Berridge reveals that recent history tells a different story

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

Ruth Carnall, chief executive of NHS London, said after the publication of the Darzi report on London’s health care last June that "This is the most ambitious and radical plan for the NHS in London since 1948."1 The proposal that has attracted most media interest and public discussion is that of the polyclinic, typically the bringing together of a much wider range of services than that offered by most general practices. The Darzi report presents this development as something new in London and the UK. It cites an example from Europe, that of Berlin, to give an idea of how the polyclinic might work.

But a look back into history shows that the idea of the polyclinic is hardly new. Rather, it is the resurfacing of an idea that had a long and interesting history in London and in national policy in the 20th century. The first incarnation was in . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

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Privatised polyclinics can never be health centres
Alex Scott-Samuel
bmj.com, 30 May 2008 [Full text]
The Pioneer Health Centre was never a Polyclinic !
Jack M Czauderna
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