Reid: "Progress is underway"

John Reid has pledged to improve local primary care services if Labour is re-elected.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the health secretary detailed plans to allow GPs to develop more flexible local services.

And he rejected suggestions that the consolidation of local services would mean the merger or closure of some existing GP practices.

Highlighting Labour's record on investment, the cabinet minister said primary care services in England had seen funding increase from £5bn in 2002/03 to £6.8bn in 2005/06.

"There are now more GPs than ever before, a 12.4 per cent increase since 1997," he said.

"Over 2,850 family doctor premises have been recently refurbished.

"And in addition to the walk-in centres, we have created 510 new primary care centres, over 100 of which are in rural areas."

Reid said he intends to develop "more convenient and wider ranging services than ever before".

He outlined his plan to "free up our GPs to be all they can be in providing services to patients".

"Over the next few months, I will be piloting new ways to enable Britain's go-getting GPs to develop new primary care services more easily," he said.

"These new freedoms for family doctors should enable primary care trusts to develop new community-based care that local communities desperately need.

"We will introduce new contracting arrangements to local doctors to provide patients with more services, more conveniently and more locally. 

"For instance direct access to medical tests and local care for diabetes, asthma and arthritis which have traditionally only been available in hospital could be developed by doctors working with their local primary care trust."

Independent sector

Independent and voluntary sector organisations, as well as existing GP practices, are likely to be invited to work with the NHS.

Some 40 primary care trusts across the country have already expressed an interest in taking part in the programme, says the Department of Health.

Practices in inner cities and rural areas are set to receive particular attention.

Since Labour came to power in 1997, there has been an average increase of 617 GPs a year, taking the total to just over 34,000 in 2004.

However, in some areas patient care is still reported to be suffering from a lack of local doctors.

But with polls showing more voters trust Labour on health, the party is keen to highlight its plans to improve services.

Reid also renewed Labour's attacks on Conservative spending plans.

Ministers have been seeking to capitalise on former Tory MP Howard Flight's suggestion that the Conservatives would implement bigger spending reductions than publicly suggested.

The claim has been vigorously rejected by party leader Michael Howard who kicked Flight out of the party as a result of the comments.

But Reid said: "Ours is an agenda to take the NHS forward. With progress underway, Britain cannot risk a Conservative Party committed to cuts and charges."