'Two birds with one stone'...

In the light of Javid suggesting people should pay for GP appointments and, given that rather than strikes being the sole reason for A&E departments and ambulance services being stretched to breaking point, much of it is down to the fact that post Covid many people still fail to get face to face consultations with GPs (who are still receiving full pay) how about, instead...

...GPs are paid not just how many patients they have on their books but rather how many they actually see 'face to face' with a lower payment for telephone consultations.
I find it disgraceful that it has become the norm for receptionists in some places to carry out what is tantamount to a 'triage' albeit they should be referred to a clinician (senior nurse?) if there is the slightest doubt when people phone for appointments at some practices. Whilst some surgeries seem to be back to pre Covid processes i.e. f2f appointments, many have continued with the remote consultations and there are clearly reported cases (thankfully not too many - but enough) where patients have had serious complications and, in one or two cases, died as a result of mis-diagnoses that could/should have been avoided had the patients been seen.
I am unclear as to whether this practice existed outside the UK but to my knowledge neither Italy or France GPs stopped f2f even when Covid was at its peak and even during lockdowns, GP visits were still allowed.

 

Javid. Another ctun.
Leading the charge on private healthcare, what a surprise.

 

@Stephen Dawson.....just don't go there with this thread title ...........

 

GP’s are paid for appointments they see, couldn’t comment on phone ones though.
That’s why they highlight how much missed appointments cost.

 

I don't understand this lack of face to face appointment thing. I live in Leeds and my very busy surgery offers them. I made an online appointment Friday morning at 8am (admittedly there's not many available each day) and by 3.40pm the same day I was in the surgery.

 

It can depend on how many people it serves. Once upon a time your surgery served the immediate surrounding area. Don’t know how many my surgery at Oaks Park Kendray serves but people seem to come from all over when you hear them confirm their address either at the Pharmacy next door or at reception.

 

It's called a postcode lottery. We aren't all as lucky as you

 

Its about time GPs got off their backside and did some work. They are the weak link in the nhs

 

I could not possibly comment...

 

Javid is throwing that idea in to see what reaction it gets, to see how the opposition react and to see how the media react. He's testing the water for the Tories (he's not in the firing line anymore so he's saying what most of em think). If the reaction is negative Tory central office will disassociate from the comments, if its muted....
Anybody who STILL thinks Tories care about the majority of citizens is either deluded, Tory or rich ( or some combination...) They will of course still get millions of votes.

 

Good idea for pay being dependent on consultation numbers but fundamentally the problem with GPs is that they are not employees of the NHS. Their position was a consequence of the compromise forced on the Atlee Labour government when they originally set up the NHS. This is also the main reason why opticians and dentists are so expensive.

As someone who's worn glasses (and briefly contact lenses) since the age of 12 (54 years) I have paid thousands of pounds over and above the substantial taxes I've paid just so I can see properly. Meanwhile a friend of mine who has had free treatment for epilepsy for a similar period of time does nothing but moan about and try to get out of paying tax.

It's a mad world and we live in one of the maddest bits.

 

It is the truth

 

I'm sure this is the case, but that said this is a really busy part of Leeds (Burley) with loads of students too. I tend to think it's more down to individual planning and organisation of surgeries. I know some that don't do online bookings at all and even my surgery has only recently ditched the 'hammer redial until you get through' for a proper queueing system.

 

I think phone appointment are great. Saved me a load of time sat around coughing people in waiting rooms only to be told the same as what I’d be told in person.

 

Why are they lazy, what work are they not doing?

 

Same experience in Leeds but I know people at work in Bradford who cannot get an appointment. My assistant had been trying the doctors for weeks and we finally convinced her to just turn up and refuse to leave until she was seen. She said she would and then came back to work the next day and said it was closed for training that afternoon so she’d try again later. She ended up in A&E that night, diagnosed with pneumonia and is still off work now as she’s so poorly.

 

There's clear cases where this works really well and others where it doesn't and shouldn't. My old man has IPF and sometimes him ringing up is infinitely better than him trailing down to the surgery to waste his and the doctors time.

 

You may have the same doctors’ surgery as me, although they always allowed me to book in advance or on the day at any time. I think we benefit because there are so many students. They fill up the books but never visit the doctor.

 

Big rock, small birds- easy.