THERE may be no future for poor performing, small GP practices as plans for three new polyclinics are announced.

NHS Harrow wants to make Belmont Health Centre, in Kenton Lane, the borough's second super clinic, with Mollison Way Medical Centre, in Edgware, and one other site providing additional GP care in the east.

The “hub and spoke” model is one the organisation is thinking of creating elsewhere, with the town centre and Northwick Park Hospital as possible sites for future polyclinics.

James Walton, of NHS Harrow, said: “We need to work with our existing GPs in the area to deliver these facilities.

“We hope that GPs will want to move. If that's not viable we will not be looking to force change through.”

He added: “I think we need to be open that we see the future of health services as being delivered out of modern facilities.

“Whether or not there's a place for poor performing, single handed GPs in Harrow remains to be seen.”

The borough's first polyclinic opened at the Alexandra Avenue Health and Social Care Centre in April.

If the plans go ahead, the Belmont centre will specialise in providing care for long term conditions, like diabetes, but will provide a range of other services as well.

NHS Harrow is looking at the possibility of setting up another polyclinic in the town centre with a focus on preventative care and is in talks over a fourth on the site of Northwick Park Hospital.

The new breed of clinics open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and treat patients who are not registered as well as those who are.

They are designed to bridge the gap between hospitals and GPs by carrying out some of the more straight forward tasks that traditionally required a hospital appointment.

In the east of the borough NHS Harrow is looking at either the site of Kenmore Clinic, in Kenton, which was closed in December, or the health centre in Honeypot Lane as a second GP led practice.

Mollison Way is due to re-open with enhanced services available from 8am to 8pm in December, one month later than originally planned.

Mr Walton said: “That feels like a real step forward for people in the area.”

NHS Harrow is considering the possibility of knocking down Belmont Health Centre and creating a purpose built polyclinic on the same site if the plans go ahead.

The organisation hopes to be in a position to consult with residents by the end of the year, or at the beginning of 2010, on their east Harrow plans.

Proposals for the rest of the borough will form part of a separate consultation.