23 March 2007
Doubts have been cast on the government's plans to place GP surgeries in supermarkets to help increase the number of doctors in deprived areas.
This week Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said four under-doctored areas in Hartlepool, Durham, Ashfield and Great Yarmouth would be the first beneficiaries of a scheme for private provision of GP services, including out-of-hours care and minor injury clinics.
Adverts for the four contracts, which will last an initial five years and be worth a total of £30m, will be placed at the end of March. Bids will be accepted from experienced health care providers, including private health care companies, groups of GPs and social enterprise companies.
Supermarkets are thought to be suitable but the biggest, Tesco, was reticent about extending its services to include GPs. A spokesman said it supported government plans to increase access but 'we currently have no plans to offer GP surgeries in store'. This reticence may be due to the fact that supermarkets would have to team up with groups of GPs.
One of Tesco's main rivals, Asda, said it had been in talks with the Department of Health but that negotiations were still in the early stages.
Most interest will probably come from established private sector providers, such as those that operate independent sector treatment centres. Care UK and Mercury Health provide GP services in two locations in London as part of a pilot scheme.
British Medical Association GPs' leader Hamish Meldrum warned that private providers should not be given preference over bids from family doctors. 'What we don't want to see is any attempt to use this announcement as a back-door way of privatising the NHS,' he added.
PFmar2007
