Patients' fears ignored as polyclinics increase

Health bosses are pressing ahead with polyclinics despite widespread opposition from Londoners.

Managers at the capital's 31 primary care trusts are in discussions about the proposed "supersurgeries" even though as few as 10 people have said they are in favour of them in some areas.

Polyclinics are central to the Government's overhaul of the health service but doctors and campaigners warn the reforms are being pushed through without proper thought. Latest figures show that more than 100 GP surgeries across London will shut to make way for polyclinics. Trusts to have drawn up closure plans include Haringey, Ealing, Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, City and Hackney, Enfield, Haringey and Lambeth.

Healthcare for London, which ran a £1million consultation on the proposals, claims that half of Londoners support the larger surgeries.

But a detailed breakdown of the consultation seen by the Evening Standard shows massive variation across the city, with fewer than 20 people in favour of the changes in areas such as Hammersmith and Fulham, Bexley and Tower Hamlets. It comes amid fresh concern that only 5,000 people responded to the proposals - less than one per cent of the population. Evening Standard has learned that:

In Bexley only 46 people - 0.02 per cent of the population - responded and half of those opposed the changes.

In Kensington and Chelsea only 12 people out of 57 strongly agreed GPs should be part of a polyclinic.

In Ealing more than half of people were against scrapping home visits by midwives.

In Kingston only three people out of 53 said care for children should be moved from hospitals to specialist centres.

Trusts are due to meet on 12 June to decide whether to approve the changes.

But NHS chiefs confirmed today that every one is already in talks about how to create the polyclinics. This comes ahead of publication of a report by a leading think tank into the impact of the changes. The King's Fund study, published tomorrow, will warn that shifting services out of hospitals could be more costly for the NHS in the long term.

It is also expected to conclude that patients could find it more difficult to visit their GP if services become massively centralised with polyclinics.

The British Medical Association and Londonwide Local Medical Committees are running campaigns in support of local GP surgeries, which they fear will be badly affected by the reforms.

Dr Stewart Drage, joint chief executive of Londonwide LMC, said: "NHS London's polyclinic agenda risks changing the landscape of general practice for ever. With as few as 46 people deciding the future of healthcare on behalf of an entire borough, it doesn't seem to be the most reliable way to take decisions." Health bosses defended their decision to push ahead with reforms.

A spokeswoman for NHS London denied it would do anything to " preempt" the trusts' meeting next week. She said: "Current work is focused on exploring the issues and gathering information in more depth on how the polyclinic service model could work."

Healthcare for London insisted family doctors would not be forced into polyclinics against their will and denied that GPs would lose out.