GPs must offer same day appointments to their sickest patients or face being named and shamed in league tables, Therese Coffey will say today.But aren't you gambling on their ability to feel any shame?
Do you think the people who were quite happy to let shivering elderly patients queue up outside the surgeries in winter while the dragons manning the front desk gossipped before eventually hauling their lard arses out of their warm seat and trundling to the door to admit one - or more likely, turn them away - are capable of it?
The people who feel no shame at hanging this sort of sign up? Interestingly, it's now been taken down...
This will let patients compare their GP’s performance with others nearby and potentially move to one offering a faster service.
That's assuming there's one in the area that's better...
The Royal College of GPs said last night Miss Coffey had failed to consult it on the changes, which it warned would add to doctors’ workload and have a ‘minimal impact’ on patient care.
Oh, boo hoo! You failed to consult your patients before shutting up shop, didn't you?
Miss Coffey will also change funding rules so practices can recruit extra staff, allowing GPs to focus on care and freeing up 1million extra appointments a year. And pharmacies will be empowered to manage more medicines without a prescription, which could free up an additional 2million GP consultations.
Better. But how about cutting that funding for lower performing surgeries instead?
You can now expect 'Practice Managers' to want funding for two more assistants, free meals and transport, a complete overhaul of their IT set-up and a 30% hike in pay.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, it's the way the whole NHS is run, so why not the small country practice with twenty patients?
My doctor is working a three day week and seems to suffer no shame that patients like me are told theres a six week wait for an appointment so I doubt if this will change things.
ReplyDelete"You can now expect 'Practice Managers' to want funding for two more assistants..."
ReplyDeleteAll she has to do it write back and say 'Do it with what you get. Make economies. Sack the dragons on the front desk and put your appointment system online.'
"...and seems to suffer no shame that patients like me are told theres a six week wait for an appointment..."
'First do no harm' seems to have morphed into 'First do no real work'..