Medical journal says many buildings not fit for purpose
Doctors in Hammersmith and Fulham are working in substandard surgery buildings, according to a report in the GPs' journal, 'Pulse'.
The report says that across London, 59% of GP surgeries are below minimum standard while in NHS Hammersmith and Fulham 27 practices are below statutory requirements. Eight are said to be ‘dangerously below standard’, while nine buildings are so bad the PCT admits that ‘nothing but a total rebuild or relocation will suffice’.
Despite the findings, the report says that Primary Care Trusts across the country are having to cancel upgrades to GP surgery buildings amid growing financial constraints.
However, an NHS Hammersmith and Fulham spokesperson said they were investing money in improving local surgeries: "The quality of some local GP surgeries is unacceptable. We know this and are working with GPs on investing more than £20million over the next four years to fix it. Improving the quality of GP surgeries is essential if we are to offer more care close to people’s homes.
“Our own review of local surgeries is an honest assessment against tight national standards. The reality is that only new builds can meet all of the standards. Of our 32 local surgeries, the majority are perfectly suitable for delivering high quality GP services from. However 13 do need relocating or significant refurbishment work. By 2013 no local GP services will be delivered from non-compliant buildings.”
According to Pulse, 14% of premises nationwide were considered substandard in 2006 – the same percentage as in the latest report. Despite promises of refurbishments and revamps, little seems to have improved over the past four years. “Where have all those fancy refurbishments gone? And how have NHS managers allowed GPs to languish in buildings not only unfit for purpose, but in some cases 'dangerously below standard'?” asks Pulse.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Since 2000 about 3,000 GP premises have been refurbished or replaced, 750 primary care centres created and £1.7bn invested via LIFT into 219 premises. We recognise historic problems still exist, particularly for inner-city PCTs, but progress has been made.”
February 14, 2010