'It's not fair that you get a post code lottery' (From Harrow Times)

'It's not fair that you get a post code lottery'

2:40pm Friday 1st August 2008

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A PRESSURE group has warned that patients may suffer if the do not have access to their GPs.

Survey results published yesterday suggest people in Harrow have more trouble getting through to GP practices and health centres on the phone than in other parts of the country and are put off by inconvenient opening times.

Vanessa Bourne, head of special projects at the Harrow based Patients Association, said: “GPs are the gatekeepers to other NHS services, and access to them is essential for their patients.

“Lack of access may result in patients having to use costly A and E care or suffer a late diagnosis.”

The survey results, published by the Healthcare Commission, rank Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT) in the bottom 20 per cent in 22 out of 35 areas.

The organisation, which runs many of the borough's GP practices and health clinics, was criticised by patients for the cleanliness of its buildings and the ability of doctors to deal with residents' main health concerns, among other things.

Ms Bourne said: “The problem with all of this is that things work primarily now on a geographical basis.

“Patients have to use the service that's local to them. It's not fair that you get a post code lottery.”

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