Will GP practice still be ‘local’?
Dear Editor The people of Bannockburn might be forgiven for thinking that their GP practice is about to be restored to the model that prevailed prior to the retirement of the two former senior partners: Docs to run GP practice again; the Observer 15.01.2020.
The Bannockburn practice along with two others is being handed over to a commercial enterprise run by doctors who will have over 50,000 patients in their charge from Ayrshire to Stirlingshire.
The claims in the article by NHS Forth Valley and the Forth Medical Group notwithstanding I fail to see a return to a genuinely local service that instils confidence in the people of Bannockburn.
There are repeated references such as local, community, sustainability, continuity of care and independent management.
This plan may be independent of NHS Forth Valley but it can hardly be described as independent at practice level when the management group covers a large swathe of Scotland.
The model as described is identical in large part to that already imposed on Bannockburn by NHS Forth Valley i.e. getting a GP appointment will prove no less difficult.
The pitch relies heavily on a range of local council budgets; getting a police station in the city he represents; asking questions about why we have so many food banks (another article in your paper); and, if he’s so concerned about the environment, stopping the developments in our green spaces ,instead of getting rid of Trident which seems to be popular with the SNP.
Rob McFarlane Via email
professional services that patients used to expect would come after seeing their doctor not before.
There is no mention of the number of GP posts that will be filled at Bannockburn.
I understand that some of the doctors, currently working out of Bannockburn perhaps in a demonstration of commitment, tendered a bid to run the practice, it was rejected.
Perhaps their tender concentrated too much on patient care and not enough on “contract and performance management” and the rest of the business skills that impress NHS Forth Valley.
Patients look to the NHS to provide them with suitably qualified medical staff like GPs, we don’t look for a Masters’ degree in business. What expertise was present in NHS Forth Valley when (with regard to “the quality of future patient services, resilience and sustainability of proposed service and clinical staffing”) the Bannockburn clinic faced a crisis? The question is rhetorical.
People like the associate medical director for primary care are quick with the positive response when it looks like they can stop digging the hole they created, they are not so clever when it comes to stabilising the structure they have undermined.
John Fowler Benview, Bannockburn