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NEWS: Adrian O’Dowd Doctors warn of premature move to polyclinics BMJ 2008; 336: 635 [Full text]

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Joined up thinking?

Chris E Nancollas   (23 March 2008)

But it is joined up thinking

Neville W Goodman   (27 March 2008)

Joined up thinking? 23 March 2008
Chris E Nancollas, GP Newnham Surgery Glos GL14 1 BE Send response to journal: Re: Joined up thinking?	There are many potential problems with polyclinics (or Darzi's Karzis as I like to think of them), but the most obvious is the effect they could have on the environment. My practice operates two village surgeries, and I estimate that at least 50% of our consultations are with patients who have walked to surgery. A polyclinic combining local practices would be based about ten miles away. As we can see about 300 patients a week, this means an extra 150 car journeys of 20 miles or more, which adds up to roughly 3000 miles worth of CO2 per week. Replicate this around the country, and you have a figure which would make a nonsense of the governments plans to reduce emissions. Equally irritating is the fact that, whenever they are asked, patients express a clear preference for local surgeries staffed by familiar faces who understand their hinterland. The government seem hell bent on delivering the opposite, soulless bucket shops where the patient is seen as a series of ticks on a computer protocol. Naturally, the preferred provider of these delightful institutions is 'anybody but the NHS'. Makes you understand how revolutions start, really. Yours sincerely, Chris Nancollas Competing interests: None declared
But it is joined up thinking 27 March 2008
Neville W Goodman, Retired Anaesthetist Bristol, BS9 3LW, UK Send response to journal: Re: But it is joined up thinking	It's joined up to the closing of post offices. And then the government worries about the apparent lack of cohesion in communities. Competing interests: None declared