State of GP system shames politicians
When a senior GP says trainee doctors are turning their back on general practice because they believe the risk of patients coming to harm are too high then it is time for all of us to listen.
Dr Tom Black’s assertion that GP services here are in the worst state they have been in since the creation of the NHS 70 years ago is alarming, even more so because he believes this is the worst performing area of the UK.
The factors are well known — a growing elderly population, increasing demand on GPsandachronicshortage of family doctors — but these were all predictable and he is right to ask why the services were allowed to deteriorate to this condition.
Family doctors are often referred to as the gateway to the NHS and Mr Black’s description of a typical day’s workforaGPshowsthatitisa very crowded entrance indeed. Meeting and diagnosing patients is only a part of the job which also includes writing prescriptions, hospital referrals, assessing blood results, making phone calls and house calls, and dealing with the ubiquitous paperwork.
Itisaworkloadwhichisnot sustainable and there needs to be a more efficient way of deal- ing with patients. Certainly additional investment to shore up GP services and the inclusion of other health professionals in GP practices will help, but it is only a partial solution.
There are too many acute hospitals for the size of the population but even when we had Health Ministers they lacked the courage to cut the number of hospitals in the face ofvoterresistance.
Yet streamlining the health service is a nettle which has to be grasped and the often quoted Bengoa Report drew a well received pathway for a more efficient service. However we have only taken a few steps along that pathway in the absence of any political direction due to the collapse of devolution.
Mr Black makes a point which should shame our politicians when he points outthatwedon’thavetowait years for anything in life now except healthcare — arguably the most important gift there is. We can only short circuit the lengthy waiting lists for treatment if we have sufficient money — or insurance — to go privately.
It is scandalous that health services have been allowed to deteriorate because politicians cannot agree on issues, which by comparison, are of little consequence.Ifwedon’thave our health we have nothing.