Polyclinics

The Christian Peoples Alliance welcomes the Newham Health Debate and the consultation that the Primary Care Trust is undertaking with residents and health care practioners about its future plans.

The Strategic Services Development Plan (SSDP) assesses the challenges facing the London borough of Newham in terms of population growth, access to high-standards of GP provision, health inequalities and the government's own initiatives, as the NHS celebrates its 60^th anniversary. As a summary of the issues, it is to be welcomed. However, it makes controversial proposals which give rise to a range of concerns.

At the Christian Peoples Alliance Group in Newham with wrote our own evidence-based submission. During the months of June/July 2008 the Christian Peoples Alliance Group on Newham Council wrote to every GP practice in the Borough to consult on the specific issue of proposed new health centres, the so-called ‘polyclinics'. The very high return rate of our questionnaire in notable. Almost every respondent expressed concerns about the proposals for the ‘polyclinics'.

It is our wish that Newham Primary Care Trust delivers improved standards of care through the network of GP surgeries. However, we are not convinced that the proposed new health centres will give best return, when compared to what identical resources could deliver if invested in driving-up standards in existing GP services. Based on our own consultation, our wish is that the Newham Health Debate and the Primary Care Trust address all these concerns in detail before proceeding with their Strategic Plan.

You can see the document that we produced by clicking on the link below.
Health_final.pdf