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Family Doctor Services

I declare an interest: I am a lay member of the General Medical Council. First, I want to reply to a comment made by the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor) about clinical judgment being superseded by the needs of a company—I think that he was quoting from the NHS campaign group, Keep Our NHS Public. In all my years on the GMC, that has not happened. People who work in the independent sector come before the GMC from time to time, but I have never met anyone in the medical profession who felt that they would have to do something that was against their clinical judgment; that would be wholly wrong and unprofessional. We may argue about one pharmaceutical prescription as opposed to another, but I do not see any proposals that would endanger the patient. The hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) was a member of the Select Committee on Health a few months ago. We criticised the national health service, and therefore the Government, on work force planning. That is absolutely right. As most people in the national health service would agree, work force planning has been dysfunctional for a long time now. That situation is beginning to get a little bit better—I am pleased about that, and I hope that the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw), is, too—but it in no way threatens family doctor services. I point out to my hon. Friend the Minister that family doctor services have been the backbone of the NHS for the vast majority of our constituents since 1948, and will remain so. It is true to say that those services are not always the first port of call. The hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) would probably jump up and tell us that our constituents' first port of call for health care help and professional advice is the local pharmacist, and not the local GP; that will remain the case. The vast majority of doctors who work in family care services are committed to their flock—their patients in the community where they practise. I have no doubt about that, and I do not feel that they are under threat in any way. Let me say why I do not support the Opposition motion and why I support the Government amendment. In their changes, the Government are investing an extra £250 million to establish more than 250 new primary care services, which will include both GP-run health centres and GP practices. Some 113 of them will be established in some of the most deprived communities in the country which have historically been under-doctored. There will be 152 new state-of-the-art GP-led health centres, which will be open between 8 am and 8 pm, seven days a week. One such structure will be built in a constituency that neighbours mine, but it will serve my constituents well. Those health centres will offer a wide range of health services, including pre-bookable GP appointments and walk-in services for registered and non-registered patients, and a range of specialist services. I had discussions last September with the local foundation trust. It will bid to provide some of the services that will be offered in the new primary care centre, as we will call it in Rotherham. Those services may not be offered in the district general hospital. Particularly for those who do not have their own transport, it is a lot easier to go to the town centre by bus than it is to get to the local hospital, so it will be a great advantage to urban Rotherham to have that facility, which will be open seven days a week, 12 hours a day.