Lord Darzi may be best known as a high-flying surgeon, but he is also quite keen on knocking out reports – especially when the main subject is not the services he is most involved with. And far from there being any continuity, each report shows a fresh change of mind
Darzi’s 2007 report for NHS London, A Framework for Action, set out controversial plans for a network of 150 costly “polyclinics” to replace local GP surgeries and providing everything from primary care through X-rays, mental health care and minor operations, at an estimated cost of £3.1 billion.
According to the accompanying ‘Technical Paper’ each polyclinic would employ an average of around 90 medical and nursing staff, including 35 GPs and 3-4 consultants, be located in rented accommodation, and run on a budget of around £21m a year. 150 polyclinics would need to enlist a total of over 5,200 GPs to full-time work – slightly more than the entire complement of GPs in London in 2007.
Darzi’s report was far from a clear blueprint: there were many gaps, ambiguities, and the costings appeared to be wildly optimistic. It did not, as campaigners would have wished, reject any further privatisation or private ownership of services or facilities delivering NHS-funded treatment.
Full article on The Lowdown, 26 September 2024