The NHS Next Stage Review Interim Report (October 2007) carried out by Lord Darzi (the Darzi Report), reported that, despite sustained investment and improvement in the NHS over the past ten years, access to primary medical care services and the quality of those services, continues to vary significantly across the country.

Many of the poorest communities experience the worst health outcomes and major inequalities exist within England in life expectancy, infant mortality and cancer mortality. Further, the gap in life expectancy between the most deprived and least deprived areas has widened, despite improvements in life expectancy in the most deprived areas.

The Darzi Report identifies improving access to primary care as a key priority if we are to deliver more personalised care that meets the needs of individuals and communities, especially those in more disadvantaged or deprived areas. This builds on the work that the Strategic Health Authorities are already doing with Primary Care Trusts to improve access, responsiveness and choice in primary medical care in response to the GP patient survey (Your Doctor, Your Experience, Your Say) results in 2007.

Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care (EAPMC) will play a significant role in achieving more personalised care set out by Lord Darzi. It is essential that there is recognition that the EAPMC programme will address specific issues highlighted in the Report. The focus of the EAPMC programme will be on achieving the visions of a fair and personalised NHS (whilst upholding the values of safe and effective primary care services).

Ministers have announced that the Government will be providing new investment of £250m to support Primary Care Trusts in establishing:

• at least 100 new General Practices in the 25% of Primary Care Trusts with the poorest provision (based on the fewest primary care clinicians, lowest patient satisfaction with access and the poorest health outcomes), both to increase capacity and offer an innovative range of services
• at least one new GP-led health centre in each PCT in easily accessible locations, providing a flexible range of bookable appointments, walk-in services and other services for either non-registered or registered patients, based on the guiding principle of ensuring that the local public can access GP services any time from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week

The Darzi Report states that these changes could not be achieved by the NHS alone but stressed that Primary Care Trusts would have a key role to play in working alongside other agencies (including local authorities and Local Strategic Partnerships), communities, industry, the voluntary and private sectors.

North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus is now participating in the EAPMC programme to deliver on commitments made in the Darzi Report and will lead and manage the procurement of additional services locally, with guidance from Yorkshire and the Humber SHA and assistance and support from the Department of Health.  Further information about the above scheme and the procurement process, will published on this section of the Internet.