tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post6258365050388052017..comments2024-03-29T13:25:33.439+00:00Comments on A K Haart: Cough up - I'm a doctorA K Haarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-54651483030797849392012-06-05T15:46:22.052+01:002012-06-05T15:46:22.052+01:00James - I've just looked up Bruce Charlton:-
...James - I've just looked up Bruce Charlton:-<br /><br />"A doctor. Dying species, salesman for Big Pharma."<br /><br />Not bad!A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-7245175983084553522012-06-05T14:13:25.258+01:002012-06-05T14:13:25.258+01:00Yes, hope you are on the mend too. What you descr...Yes, hope you are on the mend too. What you describe about routine tests - evidence based medicine, which Bruce Charlton has been railing against for so long?James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-64938519496868969282012-06-03T14:17:02.862+01:002012-06-03T14:17:02.862+01:00Jorge - yet GPs are paid as if they were specialis...Jorge - yet GPs are paid as if they were specialists even though I suspect the job could be substantially deskilled.A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-18675735279619743322012-06-03T13:38:49.325+01:002012-06-03T13:38:49.325+01:00GPs can be fairly useless as you say. Their role s...<i>GPs can be fairly useless as you say. Their role seem to be mostly divided between handing out pills or sending you off to a specialist if pills won't do.</i><br /><br />The clue is in the name - what do you expect from a <b>General</b> practitioner? GPs are experts in nothing and good at everything (well some are good for nothing, but that's because they set up shop 20 years ago and have been left unchecked since then).<br /><br />Because we have the NHS, the GP's job is to stop everyone from clogging up the hospital specialists. When people can access secondary care on their own, the insurers do this instead of the GP, so people would only go to the family doctor for regular stuff and when they don't know who to go to.<br /><br />Also, the NHS gives GPs targets, such as >70% of the population needs to have blood pressures under 140/90 and rewards the GP if successful. In a user-pays system, the government doesn't care as much about whether everyone is healthy.<br /><br />The reason telemedicine works in Malaysia is that if you die, you can't sue anybody. Recently NHS direct failed to diagnose a heart attack (as the lady in question had been calling about indigestion for years) and the nurses did not inform a doctor about the patient. Your taxes contributed about 10p in compensation to this family.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-49517618322694994872012-06-02T22:11:31.465+01:002012-06-02T22:11:31.465+01:00Sam - thanks, I am on the mend although there are ...Sam - thanks, I am on the mend although there are more stages to go through yet.<br /><br />GPs can be fairly useless as you say. Their role seem to be mostly divided between handing out pills or sending you off to a specialist if pills won't do.<br /><br />Your experience of telemedicine sounds interesting and an obvious way to go.A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2481298417819219839.post-20165021671807597622012-06-02T21:18:31.486+01:002012-06-02T21:18:31.486+01:00Hope you are still on the mend.
Doctors are an in...Hope you are still on the mend.<br /><br />Doctors are an incredibly varied bunch, so far as their expertise and usefulness is concerned. Consultants have definitely saved the lives of family members, and I would have given them anything at that time. On the other hand, most bog-standard GPs are fairly useless. (Funnily enough, my wife has just returned from casualty after cutting her finger - we think they deserve six out of ten...)<br /><br />But pensions of fifty-odd thousand...and job security most could only dream of...and the status....Strewth!<br /><br />I saw "telemedicine" in action in Malaysia. Local health centres staffed by nurses who use big "NHS Direct"-style databases to make diagnoses and treat patients. If things get tricky, they are on-line via skype to a world expert. The service seemed to be good, and it certainly saves millions. If I were a doctor, I would ask myself a few serious questions before striking.Sam Vegahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05978971199859845931noreply@blogger.com