Another NHS White Elephant.

Shropshire GPs are easier to access than GPs in the rest of the country. The official results of the national General Practitioner Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) were announced last week. Shropshire Practices had a higher level of satisfaction with opening hours, and with the availability of appointments than the average national response. What is more the figures have improved this year compared with last year.

"This is a credit to Shropshire Practices," said Liberal Democrat campaigner Dr Charles West. "In a rural county like Shropshire it is always challenging to make services  accessible locally. We have seen local Post Offices and schools under threat, so it is good to see that at least for the time being we have better access to GPs than much of the country. Unfortunately the picture is not completely rosy. There are twenty Practices waiting for funding to improve their premises. District nurses and chiropodists have been removed by the PCT from local Practices. And some Practices have not replaced GPs who retire. At the same time the PCT is being forced to spend millions of pounds on a new clinic that we do not need, that will be of no benefit to most of the people of Shropshire and that will take resources away from the services that we do need."

"I am afraid that this is another example of Gordon Brown's government by gimmick. If he listened to what people were saying locally we could spend the money on services that patients actually need."

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