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Family Doctor Services

Amid the usual slurry in the Opposition motion is one nugget of gold that is worthy of note: the reference to a"““lack of empirical and clinical evidence for… polyclinics””." That lack is undeniable, and I raised it in Prime Minister's Question Time only a week or two ago. Does the hon. Gentleman hope, as I do, that the Minister who replies will provide more substantial evidence of where the concept has worked? Countries in eastern Europe and elsewhere that have used it are retreating rapidly towards our own model in order to retain doctor-patient relationships and put a distance between doctors and specialists, and to deal with other issues on which polyclinics have foundered.