As a GP, I am delighted to see the end of a 14-year ruthless squeeze of the NHS at the hands of a Tory government that has minimised, deflected and denied any wrongdoing at every stage. As Wes Streeting has rightly said, the NHS is “broken” and we have felt this most strongly at the front door of the NHS – primary care.
Lord Darzi (‘A proper diagnosis’: Prof Lord Darzi, keyhole pioneer asked to unpick NHS, 11 July) has always maintained that primary care requires more investment, and few would contest this. However, many GPs are experiencing a sense of deja vu. Eyes are rolling among the grassroots who are old enough to recall what Lord Darzi did last time: he created expensive polyclinics that were eventually shut down as they were too costly to run. As a city surgeon, with a niche interest in robotic surgery, his insular vision for primary care led to failed policy, particularly in rural general practice.
