Blair Institute report did not recommend closing most GP surgeries

Tony Blair has not proposed the closure of “most local GP surgeries” in favour of “super primary care centres”, despite a news report suggesting he has.

In its exclusive coverage of a leaked report by the Tony Blair Institute, Politico claimed that “Tony Blair proposes closing most local GP surgeries and replacing them with super primary care centers”.

But this isn’t true, and the report—which is now published—does not recommend that this should happen.

In actuality, the Institute recommends NHS England introduce a new contract that would help GP practices work in larger groups with other practices to serve a population of around 250,000 patients between them.

This would see “far fewer groups” of GP practices, as the report notes, but no specific recommendation for a reduction in the number of GP practices individually.

99% of GP practices already work in groups called Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

PCNs each serve an average of 30,000 to 50,000 patients, but this patient list can reach above 100,000 in some cases.

If these groups of general practices were to pool their patient-lists together to reach a total population of 250,000, then there would naturally be fewer GP groups.

The Institute confirmed this to Full Fact, telling us by email: “It does not refer to the closure of GP practices. Nowhere in our report does it suggest cutting the number of GPs or GP practices. In fact we explicitly say that ‘primary-care organisations themselves are in a far better position to design what works for their population’.”

The Tony Blair Institute also confirmed that the recommendation in question refers to “a collection of GP practices that work together” including a PCN or a GP federation.

Further down in its article Politico says “health campaigners say the proposals would preference GP ‘chains’ run by private companies”. It then quotes Sam Smith at Medconfidential, a medical confidentiality campaign organisation, as saying “on substance, Blair wants Labour to close your GP and have you talk to a chatbot instead”.

We contacted Politico regarding its claim, but it declined to comment.

Media outlets should make every effort to ensure accuracy in their output. False or misleading claims should be appropriately and clearly corrected in a timely manner. 

What is the point of grouping GPs?

GP groups—such as PCNs and GP federations—are large-scale collections of GP practices organised around a local area that let practices share resources and funding more easily.

For example, the practices within a PCN may share some members of staff like clinical pharmacists or mental health practitioners.

Likewise, a GP federation may develop services designed to suit the needs of a local population across several towns, in instances where a single GP practice could only serve one.