A UNIQUE bond exists between family doctors and their patients. That bond has been undermined by the dispute at York Medical Group, and the result is widespread distress and anger.

The Evening Press broke the story about the practice gaining an injunction that prevented two of its GPs treating their former patients for a year. The response was immediate and passionate.

York MP Hugh Bayley has been contacted by a significant number of patients worried about the changes; his postbag mirrors our own. Many readers have written to pay tribute to the two doctors concerned, to express their anger about being denied access to their GP of choice, and to voice anxiety about what happens next.

Triple heart attack victim Kevin Greaves personified these concerns. Because of the legal wrangle, he would be unable to continue with the doctor who had seen him safely through years of serious illness, he told us.

It was an irrepressible demonstration of the esteem in which good doctors are held. The medical authorities might have been surprised by the strength of feeling: they should certainly be pleased.

Considering how much upset the practice's problems have caused, it is a matter of great regret that a solution could not be found without recourse to legal action. Even now there is confusion over a possible month's delay to the injunction.

That would allow the health authority more time to contact patients, and patients more time to register with the two doctors' new practice if that is their wish. The patients' needs should be given priority, and we sincerely hope the postponement is agreed.

New Labour is keen to bring more private sector principles to bear on the National Health Service. Many feel uneasy about its plans.

The York Medical Group case shows that imposing business pressures on health care carries real risks. Patients take great comfort from a long-standing relationship with their doctor. That cannot be evaluated on a spreadsheet. It should be valued and protected.

Updated: 10:58 Friday, June 29, 2001