Patients say no to polyclinics

11:40am Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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A PETITION signed by 1,600 patients against polyclinics has been handed to Beckenham MP Jacqui Lait.

The Keep My NHS GP Local petition collected in the Beckenham constituency was handed over at the Station Road Surgery, West Wickham, on Friday.

Mrs Lait will send it to Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT) chairman Elizabeth Butler.

The trust is responsible for providing primary care services in the borough.

Polyclinics will see larger numbers of doctors, nurses and medical facilities on one site, instead of having health services spread out and small GP practices.

The Bromley Local Medical Committee, which represents GPs, helped organise the petition.

Committee medical secretary Dr James Heathcote said doctors and patients were worried about the impact of changes to the current system of care.

He said: "This petition shows patients want to keep their NHS GP local and are against single-site polyclinics, surgery relocation and privatisation."

Currently there are no polyclinics in Bromley.

The Beckenham Beacon medical centre, in Croydon Road, which is still being built, will have the capacity to hold a variety of medical services, including two GP surgeries.

However, Mrs Lait said: "I am not expecting us to have a polyclinic in Bromley. It would be inappropriate.

"Some are looking at the Beckenham Beacon.

"The official definition of a polyclinic is a clinic which serves 50,000 people. This would not be one."

In the last few months a similar petition was presented to MP John Horam from patients in the Orpington area.

A PCT spokesman said: "We take the view polyclinics are not a one-size-fits-all model based in one building.

"They could operate as a network of existing GP practices, with links to services such as blood tests and X-rays.

"We will work with clinicians and residents to determine how to deliver services in ways which best meet needs and improve access to care."