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Family Doctor Services

After that cogitation, I am grateful to have been called to speak, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was encouraged when the Secretary of State sat down and since then I have become more and more depressed. I was delighted that he acknowledged the quality of our family doctor services, and that he acknowledged the crucial importance of the strong ties between GPs and their patients and their families. I welcome the extra money and his clear statement that there are no plans to herd GPs willy-nilly into polyclinics, whether they want them or not, and that it is not a top-down measure. We all know from our PCTs that they have been told that they must have a polyclinic. I am sorry that the Minister is not here at this moment, because I want him to confirm that I can go back to my PCT and say that the Secretary of State has said that if the trust can provide the same sort of services that a polyclinic would have provided in the enlarged health centres, which it has planned according to local need and with the money that has been provided for that purpose, the polyclinic will not be imposed on that trust. I am delighted to see that the Minister is back. I hope that he has got the gist.