Doctors warn '8am scramble' for GP appointments won't end without more funding
Labour have promised to "end the 8am scramble" by allowing patients to "easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose". But the Doctors' Association UK says the manifesto pledge will not be possible under current funding.
Our record is a little over 400 calls beginning at 8am before we managed to get through to GP reception and arrange a phone appointment. Yet in this case as in a number of others, a commercial pharmacist would have been quite capable of treating the problem.
Rules and demarcation though, more funding beats better productivity and a new Labour government is an opportunity not to be missed.
7 comments:
Doctors showed how incredibly efficient they could be, when they were hosed down with money for innoculating everyone on their books. I'm sure they could reach that level of dedication again, and Wes Streeting is connecting up the money-hosepipe as we type...
Will the liebour bottomless money bucket also replace the status and prestige GPs have lost by hiding in their offices and dumping much of their work on nurses?
Sam - I'm sure things would improve enormously were we to adopt one of the better European systems instead of the NHS. Somehow Wes Streeting doesn't come across as the chap to suggest that.
Jannie - I think they have lost the status and prestige now. Hiding in their offices and dumping much of their work on nurses wasn't great PR was it?
There's a professional corrosion going on. We looked at teachers, solicitors and doctors as professionals. But as they unionised and had their work passed off to teachers' assistants, conveyancing clerks and practice nurses we realised that a lot of their work was very humdrum indeed. And tales of poor teachers, poor solicitors and poor doctors abound. Professions are not what they once were.
DJ - I agree and it's particularly noticeable with practice nurses. Becoming unionised was a mistake and going on strike an even bigger mistake. As you say, professions are not what they once were. There is no way to put the clock back on that.
My GP's surgery is very good. Pro-active to the point of annoyance in terms of preventative stuff, easily reachable by 'phone and with GPs who respond to an email outlining what's up and what I'd like done within the same day.
But then I live in a nice part of the UK with very few immigrants or obese dole slackers who can't be arsed to work.
And English is the only language spoken or offered.
Nobby - they certainly seem to vary. My cousin in Derby has a good GP, far better than ours.
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