700 GP surgeries unfit for patients

Patients are being treated in crumbling buildings unfit for modern healthcare, the Government admitted today.

Health chiefs have revealed 700 GP surgeries in Britain fail to meet minimum standards. More than half are in London.

Doctors say many surgeries in the capital are in converted Victorian houses so cramped patients can be heard talking about their ailments. Others have no disabled access.

Under Health Department rules, surgeries must be clean, safe, and accessible to all. They should have decent lavatory and washing facilities, furniture in good repair and good lighting, heating and ventilation. There should be fire alarms and fire exits. Consulting rooms should have separate, or cordonedoff, areas for undressing. Patient records should be securely stored.

But Health Minister John Hutton said 700 GP premises did not meet these standards - 395 in London.

Standards varied across the capital. In south-west London all surgeries reached the benchmark, but in south-east London 160 failed, as did 149 in north-central London. Mr Hutton was answering a parliamentary-question by Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow.

Doctors warned of a "huge problem". Dr Ann Robinson, a GP in North Finchley, said: "The majority of GPs in London are working out of converted buildings, usually Victorian or Edwardian.

"Often there is so little space patients have to talk to receptionists about their illness or test results, in full earshot of everyone."

A Health Department spokesman said the figure of 700 was only six to seven per cent of primary care premises in England. He said the Government was supporting a huge surgery modernisation programme.