WE at the surgery in Pocklington were interested to read your article about new polyclinics that the Primary Care Trust is going to have to establish.
Unfortunately, the article is somewhat misleading. The proposed centre would not replace current surgeries, although it may well destabilise them.
It is not yet clear where the centre in East Yorkshire would be, most likely Bridlington, although G
oole is also a possibility.
The cost will have to come from other areas, either existing practices, hospital budgets or community services.
Bridlington is the largest town in the East Riding but even with a population of 40,000 there is great doubt whether the proposed clinics are economically viable.
Whether they will provide a useful service is not known; there has been no consultation and the Government policy is that these clinics will happen regardless.
The article states that these clinics would be led by local GPs. In fact, the contracts for these clinics, which will run for five years at a time, will be out to a competitive tender and are likely to be run by commercial companies. Where they will obtain their doctor cover from is extremely uncertain.
Yet another threat to local GPs is the newly published White Paper on pharmacy services. One proposal is that practices should lose their right to dispense medication. For Pocklington this would mean all patients obtaining their medication from the chemists rather than directly from the surgery.
Dr JHW Laing
Pocklington Group Practice
The full article contains 249 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
