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Polyclinics

It is surely a spectacular achievement by the Government to have taken a concept that is clearly worthy of consideration and development and, in the space of nine short months, turned so many people against it. The reason for that is the central imposition from Whitehall, which will require every PCT to introduce a GP-led health centre. The Secretary of State draws a distinction between GP-led health centres and polyclinics, but the King's Fund—which is entirely independent of the BMA—says that they involve a model of care that is not dissimilar. GP-led health centres are, at the very least, embryonic polyclinics. They look to most independent observers very much like the same thing. As the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) and my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Andrew George), who is no longer in his place, made clear, surely the decisions should be made by local commissioners, who are accountable to the communities they serve. The frustrating aspect is that this all started so well. In July last year, the Secretary of State announced the Darzi review. He said:"““The review, the first of its kind, will directly engage patients, NHS staff and the public. I have written…to all NHS staff to explain the importance of this new approach. The success of the review will depend on gaining access to those relationships and stimulating a range of lively, local, provocative debates. Public services cannot be transformed by going against the grain of public service, or without support from the professionals who know the NHS best.””" That was the stated ambition at the start of the process, but three short months later, when the interim Darzi report came out, it announced the 152 GP-led health centres, one for every PCT. Was that really the outcome of that great conversation with the NHS, or was it the imposition of a blueprint that had already been determined long before the launch of the review?