Yesterday evening a story appeared on the front page of the Times
website. I can't remember the exact headline but it implied that
acceptance of the Government's proposal had been agreed.
I put a comment on the story pointing out that nothing is yet certain
and that GPs have not yet been balloted. "A Government that announces
that GPs have capitulated to its bullying may yet find that they will
resist" wrote I, in a rhetorical flourish.
Since then there have been more helpful comments. A stressed GP said
he can't cope with the extra workload and is quitting. A patient
reported from her Patient Participation Group that they were happy
with existing hours but worried about the PCT tendering process for
new surgeries: "we could see multi national / entrepreneurial GPs
taking over. and losing continuity with the GPs we know and respect".
And another patient thinks the proposals will favour the worried well
over the elderly and chronically ill.
What also seems to have happened is that the headline has been toned
down to "GPs back down on surgery opening hours" and the story itself
is less one-sided. It has disappeared from the front page of the
website (now only visible in the Politics section) and does not appear
in today's printed edition at all.
It also looks to me as though the story on the BBC news website has
also been modified. It now says "But it is unclear what the BMA will
do if GPs fail to follow its lead."
The trouble with the web is that when things appear to have changed
you can't go back and see what was there before. Do other people have
the same impression as me, that the tone of these stories has altered?
And I can't believe that this has happened simply because of my
comment on the Times website. I imagine that the GPC press office has
been lobbying furiously.
So well done, chaps!
Mike
--
Michael Leuty
Nottingham, UK
|