This is going to be a disaster for Government as well as for patients and
the NHS.
There is much work that GPs undertake that is in the pen-umbra between what
hospitals can do and what GPs can do. Currently this involves GPs adsorbing
pressure and treating patients at home. If GPs are abused by a Government
that negotiated and freely agreed a contract that GPs have delivered; a
Government that on delivery say, “we did not mean what we said, we will make
you do more work for the less pay”, they will find that we stop managing the
pen-umbra. They will have lost the goodwill they makes us undertake that
extra mile for patients in the community.
Patients in the pen-umbra are stressful to manage and if they arrive in
secondary care they will be seen by secondary care as suitable for their
intervention. No one will be able to criticise the GP for their referral.
Secondary care will see, admit and investigate. Wards will fill. Waiting
lists will increase. Government will have to pour resources into secondary
care to enable it to cope. Popular dissatisfaction with the Government’s
handling of the NHS will grow as will satisfaction with GPs. Counter
intuitively, when GPs do their gatekeeper job less well, popular
satisfaction with them will increase and Government will find it has no one
to blame: all this at a time when Practice Based Commissioning is poised to
make significant efficiency gains for the NHS.
Action is required.
Simon
Simon Bradley
Stokes Medical Centre
Bristol
-----Original Message-----
From: GP-UK [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary Hawking
Sent: 22 December 2007 08:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Time to do something
In message <08c701c8442b$df27f740$2101a8c0@STUDY>, Trefor Roscoe
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>As the GPs on this list will know, the Government has finally picked a
>fight.
>
>They are proposing to remove funding equivalent to over £12,500 PER GP from
>the budget to privatise General Practice.
>
>Please get in touch with your LMC, your MP and anyone else you feel needs
to
>know.
>
>I am happy to link to the BMA papers/news articles etc if you wish
Links would be useful
MaryH
>
>Trefor
>
>
>Listowner
>
--
Mary Hawking
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