NHS GP services
SIR – For some time now I have read with increasing sadness the negativity directed towards the NHS, and general practice in particular (Letters, December 23).
Individual experiences of poor care have and will always occur in all systems, but clearly gain a lot of sensational coverage in the press. I think the gist of your coverage is correct, however. I still work in several areas of the NHS and I can tell you what the issue is – it’s one that spells the end of the NHS as it is.
Doctors no longer seem to consider medicine as a vocation. They reflect the rest of society in that they won’t graft, lifestyle is more important and they want more money. This has not always been the case.
There is an increasing demand of healthcare from the population driven by an often unrealistic expectation of interventions. This is further exacerbated by a society-driven deterioration in mental health. Expectations of a “free at the point of use” (but not free, as I have frequently been reminded by tricky customers) system will never be met.
The service I entered after medical school is not fit for today’s world. We need to make massive reforms. This is political suicide for any party, so should be a cross-party challenge. I would look across the Channel for an imperfect but better alternative. James Hinds
Mobberley, Cheshire
SIR – Although in past times of plenty a patient’s wish to see a GP could be accommodated, the NHS now has to use its resources more efficiently and ascertain whether a patient has a real need to see a GP. By this means, more patients are seen more promptly. The NHS should be praised for this efficiency improvement and does not deserve to have its triage-trained receptionists belittled (Leading Article, December 22).
The bottom line is that patients should now find it acceptable (contrary to the same editorial) that when they seek medical advice from primary care they will be guided towards the most appropriate practitioner, who may not necessarily be a GP. Brian Whittingham
Dorchester
SIR – Modern NHS general practice cannot be called such.
It does not fulfil the basic tenets of the title, namely interfamily dynamics, chronicity and continuity of care – continuity being the most vital component. Dr Michael Spencer
Adstock, Buckinghamshire