OK then, Ahmad
"The population does not want to pay more taxes"
There have been times in the past when the taxation rates were much higher
than at present. Do you think it is the lower rates that have caused the
present predicament? Or is it just that the "Universal, comprehensive
......" NHS has finally squeezed the last ounce of goodwill and caring out
of a significant number of its staff (Drawing on several threads here)
I personally do not believe that raising taxes will do anything to raise GP
morale. The highest users (and some might say abusers) of the NHS are those
that pay no taxes. (and I pay more than enough for my liking already thanks
very much :-))
A respected GP/LMC officer recently said that HMG wants to see us spending
twenty minutes with each patient because in surveys it always came back that
patients wanted "More time with the Doctor". As a corollary the GPs would
then have time to take fuller histories, do full examinations and therefore
do less tests, make less referrals and prescribe fewer drugs and the NHS
would therefore save loadsamoney and survive for a bit longer. Most of the
room burst out laughing but let's face it - if we were seeing a third of the
number in Surgery this might actually be feasible. So how do we relieve
ourselves of two thirds of our consultations? If we were to attempt to
achieve such a reduction then how would we try and make sure the right two
thirds had been discouraged?
Possible solutions?
1) Nurse triage? Perhaps the nurses would also get fed up with that after a
few years ;-)
2) Increase the number of GPs? Hohohoho!
3) Structured consultation fees via cash or DSS tokens subject to controlled
supply? Some will undoubtedly suffer but whether the number suffering will
be more or less than at present is debatable.
4) Abandon the NHS and copy some other country's system? Which one?
Any others?
Peter
Dr Peter Wilson <[log in to unmask]>
GP, Broadstairs <http://www.albionrd.demon.co.uk>
Medical Manager EKDOC <http://www.ekdoc.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: Ahmad Risk <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 10 October 1998 17:55
Subject: Re: GP Morale
>On Sat, 10 Oct 1998 14:45:35 +0100, Peter Wilson wrote:
>
>>So, what problems need addressing?
>>
>>IMHO
>[snip]
>
>There is one main problem, Peter:
>
>Universal, comprehensive, all singing all dancing, do everything for
>everybody every time, free at the point of delivery health care is not
>tenable when the population at large does not want to pay more taxes.
>
>The questions then become:
>
>1. What do we need to do to provide a baseline safety net health
>service, and
>2. What other mechanisms that need exploring to fund such a service and
>an enhanced version?
>
>These questions are for everybody to address not just doctors, but we
>can make an informed start.
>
>Ahmad
>
>________________________________________
>
>Dr Ahmad Risk
>http://mednetics.org
>Office: +44 (1273) 748198
>Home: +44 (1273) 724866
>Fax: +44 (1273) 748198
>
>
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