Prime Minister Gordon Brown has visited a state-of-the-art health clinic in south London to hear how NHS reforms can help GPs and practice managers.
Mr Brown was joined by Health Secretary Alan Johnson to tour the Riverside Medical Centre, an NHS clinic in Vauxhall which opened in April this year.
The practice is housed in purpose-built premises in St George Wharf, a modern development adjacent to Vauxhall Bridge.
It has four GPs and operates a number of services for a large and diverse community in the surrounding area.
Riverside also provides a Primary Care Resource Centre, which houses PCT health providers, including homeless, drug and alcohol, and TACT teams.
Mr Brown and Mr Johnson spoke to staff and then held a short meeting on the future of GP surgeries.
They discussed how services can be improved, as well as asking for opinions on current health issues such as smoking and obesity.
Mr Brown was told how GPs can do more at their own surgeries, and ideas such as introducing ultrasound scans and testing blood were put forward as examples.
The PM said: “People do understand the health service is getting better, but it is going to get even better.”
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