The Guardian (London)
October 5, 2007 Friday
FAQ: Darzi’s healthcare ideas
Who is Lord Darzi?
Before gaining a peerage and ministerial office in July, Ara Darzi
was professor at Imperial College London. The Armenian-born,
Baghdad-educated, Dublin-trained cancer surgeon had an international
reputation for advances in keyhole surgery.
Why does Gordon Brown rate him so highly?
The prime minister thought he understood the NHS a lot better after
listening to a Darzi presentation at the King’s Fund in the summer.
The surgeon drew a diagram showing the cost and inconvenience of
patients making multiple journeys to the GP and hospital. He
explained how the system could save money by becoming more
patient-friendly.
What was the solution?
The Darzi report on reforming the NHS in London called for 150
polyclinics where GPs, nurses and consultants would carry out most
routine health care. He wanted surgery concentrated in
super-hospitals, leaving some specialist departments in district
hospitals ripe for downgrading or closure.
Can the government deliver longer surgery opening times?
It will need to agree a deal with the British Medical Association.
Such deals usually swell GPs’ incomes, but ministers think they did
rather too well out of the contract they signed in 2004. A plan to
allow healthcare firms to tender to set up practices may encourage
the GPs to play ball.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
