Dr Carl Parker
Lead clinician - momentum: pathways to healthcare
GP Chair of the Joint Professional Executive Committee for Hartlepool PCT and North Tees PCT
As one of the two lead clinicians for the momentum: pathways to healthcare programme I am privileged to introduce this consultation document to you.

As a GP in Hartlepool and as chair of Hartlepool Primary Care Trust and North Tees Primary Care Trust’s professional executive committee, I am concerned with promoting health and working with other health professionals to care for the people in our area. It has been challenging to do this working in the context of what seemed like endless reviews of our health care systems. Like so many others I am pleased to see the end of this period of uncertainty.

As a doctor I am convinced by the ideals set out in the White Paper Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services. In many ways it is an endorsement of what we already knew; that people want to stay independent, stay healthy and, when they need the health service, have care in or near their homes. People understand that very specialist care for rare illness or diseases has to be centralised but the vast majority of care should be local.

I am pleased we have reached the stage in our programme where we are ready to test out ideas with the public and I look forward to continuing the development work on this new health system. For patients it will mean better, more responsive care. For staff it will mean a stimulating environment and for doctors like me it will represent a quantum leap to the kind of health care we can provide for local people.