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Appraisal of first year
Tables are given at the end of this report which show the extent to which the Centre
has been used and they indicate the continuing support of the local doctors and a steady
growth of work. In the appendix are shown the classification of patients attending the Centre
with more detail about certain of the groups.
The value of the Centre, however, cannot be demonstrated in statistical terms. Some of
the services provided have not hitherto been available to general practitioners and the only
measure of the need is the use made of them. Radiological and pathological services were
already available at eight large hospitals in the area and the opening of the Centre will not
be reflected to any significant extent in the outpatient figures of any one of them. Similarly,
no conclusive evidence is available that the Centre contributes towards earlier detection of
disease, although it has been observed that a number of patients were sent to the Centre
whose symptoms were so slight that they might not normally have been referred to a chest
clinic or hospital and that in some of these abnormal conditions were found.
The Centre is still in the experimental stage and it may not be until the third or fourth
year that it becomes stabilised. During the first year it was important not to be too
ambitious and not to start any project in so big a way that there was a risk of it not being
carried through to completion. For this is essentially the general practitioners' Centre and,
notwithstanding the part played by the London County Council and the other organisations
concerned, its pattern, growth and success depend to a very large extent on the needs and
continued enthusiasm of the local doctors and on their ability to add to their busy lives.
It will be interesting to see how it develops.