Retired GP likens Shrewsbury health hub plans to 'impersonal' post-Soviet systems
A doctor who worked in eastern Europe has said controversial plans to move six GP surgeries into a hub would be a step back.
Former GP John Wynn-Jones described the “polyclinic” system he experienced in former Soviet countries as “inefficient, impersonal and unpopular”, and believes that’s how the Shrewsbury Health and Wellbeing Hub would be received.
The hub proposals would see six surgeries close and move to a new site, probably in Meole Brace, a change which would affect 45,000 patients in the town.
Concerns have been raised over transport and accessibility issues, and protests against the plans have taken place. However, NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin bosses insist it represents a significant investment in GP services in Shrewsbury. Dr Wynn-Jones, who is a part time lecturer in rural and global health at Keele University, wrote to Dr Charlotte Hart, clinical lead for the project.
He said: “General practice is currently under significant stress and GPs are struggling to meet the unprecedented workload burden that they are facing.
“This is however not the time to bundle six different practices into what will become a very large polyclinic. I was funded by the British Council in the late 90s to visit several countries in Eastern Europe as they transitioned from their Soviet past to become members of the European community.
“It was my experience that polyclinic system was inefficient, impersonal, and unpopular. These countries were keen to develop a model of primary care similar to our model in the UK and other western European countries. I find it extraordinary that we seem to be moving now in the opposite direction exchanging a well tried and tested system for one that the rest of the world is moving away from.
“The challenges facing general practice are clearly down to a sustained period of chronic underfunding and poor support by central government.
“We must move away from the idea that primary care is only there to take the pressure off secondary care, to one that aims to fight inequality and strives to improve health outcomes across the whole country at a primary care level.
“Nine out of 10 people who access health care in the UK are cared for in primary care, yet we spend only nine per cent of our total health spending on primary care.
“The evidence is clear however that a country’s health outcomes depend on the quality of primary care.
“I fear that moving six practices from their established communities into one building will have little impact on the quality of service that they will able to achieve.
“There are currently many more questions than there are answers.
“If this initiative happens, there will be no turning back. This could have a lasting detrimental impact on the quality of general practice and a truly patient centred service.”
Dr Hart said recently: “We see the hub as a great opportunity to provide different benefits to our residents, including quality services under one roof and in modern facilities, making it easier for people to attend multiple appointments in the same place, and having access to professional multi-disciplinary teams.”
