The truth about the 'holistic' family doctor

David Aaronovitch is on top form today in his defence of polyclinics over the ludicrous claims of the doctors' trade union about the 'family doctor'. Here he gets to the nub of the matter.

Richard Vautrey, of the GPs' committee of the British Medical Association, has been the chief voice raised at the weekend in opposition to Lord Darzi. He was principally worried about the loss of the role of medical generalist. The new specialists, he claimed, such as those looking at children's or women's problems, would “undermine” GPs and mean that doctors would no longer “provide a holistic, generalised service that patients really value”.....When I saw this claim, I thought long and hard about it. And decided that this “holistic” approach, is, in fact, code for “inexpert”.