Four years ago, one of the aspirations that Achilleas, Yasemin and I had was to try and get more GPs to come into the area. This was based on analysis that the number of surgeries per capita was below average for London. Quite a bit below in fact.

We started negotiating with the PCT for the area (up in Cockfosters at that time). Things looked good - they accepted our statistical evidence. And then... and then the new Government got rid of the PCTs. Which can be critiqued on some other occasion. In terms of local needs, it meant that we were dead in the water until the new structures - the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) - were up and running.

This would take a couple of years. During which time, Bowes Labour councillors kept local options open by ensuring the Local Plan specify that any development be "balanced" i.e. future changes in land use would have to include social amenities, of which healthcare facilities comprise one example. In the end, this  served its purpose, since the companies doing development work in and around the North Circular (such as Notting Hill) all accept now that a future Labour Administration will require that space also be reserved for social infrastructure (starting with healthcare facilities). Which might not have been the case otherwise - developers get more money from housing and therefore have an incentive to forget the rest. Which would have been disastrous for our neighbourhood...

So that's one step. The next being the actual question of where these facilities should be located. It is fair to say this has not been determined yet. The consultations haven't even started! But our Administration has asked officers to explore possibilities. If Labour wins on 22 May, this work will continue. If the Tories win (realistically the only other possibility in Enfield), then I don't know. Haven't heard the Tory candidates talk about local healthcare provision but that doesn't mean they'd necessarily scupper the work we've started. It's something that voters might want to ask them.

Which brings us to the last chapter - actually talking to the doctors (through their CCGs or representatives) who would want to move to the area. Again, it's early days so I can't and/or shouldn't be specific. But I do want to report that we've gone to initial meetings and made contacts.

The big picture is that we still don't have enough GPs in the area and with population growth, the per capita deficit is getting worse. For a while Bowes residents would spill over into the Haringey (Bounds) side of the border but I hear that is getting difficult. Regardless of who wins the national elections in 2015, I have a sense that the CCG structures will last a while longer. Not that I think they're the best idea - I preferred the old PCTs and am very fearful of any privatisation of our health service - but at a certain point the NHS needs a breather from these top-down reorganisations.

Just long enough so that we your councillors have enough time to negotiate with partners and get extra GPs to move to our area. Sooner  rather than later!

Anyway, it's something that Bowes Labour councillors have been working on even in this pre-Council election period, so thought I'd report back to friends (especially because it's truly a Bowes and a Bounds issue). Please can I ask that this thread not be over-politicised. Like we all need a healthy environment, we also all need healthcare. So I've tried not to write anything too abusive above about local Tory rivals. Yes I do criticise the Conservative Government for some of their recent policies in this domain but having a political ding dong is not my goal here. Getting more doctors in is.