New GP And Dental Practices In Coventry

Coventry Primary Care Trust wants to open two new GP practices (in Stoke Aldermoor and Foleshill) and three new dental practices (in Wood End, Tile Hill and Stoke Aldermoor).

Men living in Foleshill are likely to die 10 years earlier than a man in any other part of the city - at an average age of 63. Coventry is one of 50 primary care trusts identified as having the poorest GP provision in England and Wales.

31% of us, in a recent study by Citizen Advice Bureaux, have not seen a NHS dentist since April 2006. "Lack of access" was the most common reason cited.

More provision for NHS dentistry and for GP surgeries are, obviously, good things.

The flip side of this announcement is that private companies could be brought in to run the new services. The three proposed GP health centres will be run by "Alternative Providers of Medical Services" (APMS).

Patricia Barnett, assistant director of Primary Care for Coventry PCT, said: "Currently doctors have a monopoly on surgeries. APMS means there can be a wider pool of potential bidders, not just GPs - public service bodies, voluntary sector, hospital foundation trusts and private bodies.

Dr Manoj Pai, chairman of Coventry Local Medical Committee, said: "While we welcome additional investment to enable long-needed expansion of primary care services in Coventry, we are disappointed. We do not believe that tendering out family doctor services to large private companies who will seek to make profits for their shareholders as their main aim is in the best long-term interests of our patients.

You can read more about the 2007 to 2012 "commissioning strategy" for the Coventry PCT here.