GPs in England vote in favour of industrial action

[Eldorado]

GPs in England have voted in favour of taking limited forms of industrial action to protest against the government’s drive to force them to see patients face-to-face.

The results led the profession’s new leader to warn ministers that “demoralised, broken and exhausted” family doctors may refuse to undertake some normal duties to show their anger.

Four in five (80%) of the GPs who voted in an indicative ballot organised by the British Medical Association backed the withholding of information about how they hold appointments, to thwart the government’s plan to “name and shame” surgeries that see too few patients in person.

MSN

[+and-then]

This is ridiculous.  If these physicians are really that concerned about catching a case of the 'Rona, they should be issued real environment suits with canned air.  That would reduce their risks to ZERO and allow them to be face to face with the patients.  This sounds like doctors there trying to use the pandemic like teachers over here.  They seem to want to work from home, permanently.  

[itsnotoutthere]

If they go on strike and refuse to work....... how will we know? 

Edited November 25, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[+ouija ouija]

It was difficult enough getting an appointment to see a doctor face-to-face before covid! Currently, all my local surgery offers are phone calls and you have to wait a fortnight for that.

[itsnotoutthere]

14 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

It was difficult enough getting an appointment to see a doctor face-to-face before covid! Currently, all my local surgery offers are phone calls and you have to wait a fortnight for that.

I recently had a foot x-ray to locate a possible break. I was given a date for two weeks later when the doctor would talk me through the results, took the day off work on the appointment day, went to the surgery & checked in at reception where she then informed me that it would be an 'over the phone' consultation, so go back home & wait for a phone call. At no point before did the say that. The basic 'diagnosis' being yes you've got a fracture, come back & see me if it gets anymore painfull.

[OpenMindedSceptic]

Finally, we can start balancing public borrowing. 

 

[Silver]

14 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

I recently had a foot x-ray to locate a possible break. I was given a date for two weeks later when the doctor would talk me through the results, took the day off work on the appointment day, went to the surgery & checked in at reception where she then informed me that it would be an 'over the phone' consultation, so go back home & wait for a phone call. At no point before did the say that. The basic 'diagnosis' being yes you've got a fracture, come back & see me if it gets anymore painfull.

What did you expect? You had an X-ray, you will have been given advice at the time. Do you think that if you had had a GP apointment the next day the fracture would heal? What do you want people to do? Do you think that if you had had access to private care your foot would have got better sooner? LOL!

Edited November 27, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[Silver]

9 hours ago, OpenMindedSceptic said:

Finally, we can start balancing public borrowing. 

 

What does that mean?

[+ouija ouija]

23 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

I recently had a foot x-ray to locate a possible break. I was given a date for two weeks later when the doctor would talk me through the results, took the day off work on the appointment day, went to the surgery & checked in at reception where she then informed me that it would be an 'over the phone' consultation, so go back home & wait for a phone call. At no point before did the say that. The basic 'diagnosis' being yes you've got a fracture, come back & see me if it gets anymore painfull.

 

9 hours ago, The Silver Shroud said:

What did you expect? You had an X-ray, you will have been given advice at the time. Do you think that if you had had a GP apointment the next day the fracture would heal? What do you want people to do? Do you think that if you had had access to private care your foot would have got better sooner? LOL!

I think what itsnotoutthere is annoyed about is the time taken off work . . . the doctor could have phoned him at work. He should have been told this when he first phoned for an appointment. I have sympathy with him because over the last few months the staff at my local health centre have made so many basic mistakes that I've lost all faith in them being able to carry out more complicated stuff..

[itsnotoutthere]

1 hour ago, ouija ouija said:

 

I think what itsnotoutthere is annoyed about is the time taken off work . . . the doctor could have phoned him at work. He should have been told this when he first phoned for an appointment. I have sympathy with him because over the last few months the staff at my local health centre have made so many basic mistakes that I've lost all faith in them being able to carry out more complicated stuff..

Thankyou. You saw the point I was trying to make. To me it seem that no matter how much money is thrown at the NHS, the actual service provided just gets worse.

As an example.....

A few weeks ago my wife suddenly started to get dizziness spells & on occasion would have to lay down for a few minutes to recover. After this happened on about the forth occasion she called the surgery, explained the symptoms to the receptionist and was told she would have a phone consultation with the doctor in a weeks time. Sure enough a week later my wife recieved a phone call from the doctor, she relayed the syptoms over the phone again & the doctor diagnosed what 'she thought it was' and texted my wife a link to a web page showing various neck excercises....that was it.

Compare with.....

My daughter teaches in a school in Malaysia where she has been for three years. Recently she began to get headaches. Again after about the fourth one she contacted her local surgery. The doctor answered the phone and my daughter relayed her symptoms. The doctor asked her if she would like to see him that afternoon which she did. She had a 20 minute consultation with the doctor after which he told her there was nothing to worry about but, if it would put her mind at rest he suggested a CAT scan, which she agreed to & they did within the hour, confirming no problems.

I'm pretty sure had my daughter contacted my wifes doctor she too would have been sent the webpage link for neck excercises.

My point being that we are constantly told that the NHS is entirely wonderful & indeed it is 'the envy of the world', I think that may have been true 30 40 or 50 years ago but not today by a long chalk.

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[Duke Wellington]

On 11/25/2021 at 7:16 PM, and then said:

This is ridiculous.  If these physicians are really that concerned about catching a case of the 'Rona, they should be issued real environment suits with canned air.  That would reduce their risks to ZERO and allow them to be face to face with the patients.  This sounds like doctors there trying to use the pandemic like teachers over here.  They seem to want to work from home, permanently.  

I`m not going to say where I work (its nothing to do with the medical industry) but I`m still working from home, and there are no plans to change it.

I think its wonderful. I get up at 8.55am and relax at 5.01pm. I will even confess to getting in an average of 2 hours naps per day when I`m supposed to be working (dont worry, I turn my mic off and put something over the webcam).

I think its the future. I think everybody should be allowed to stay working from home, but doctors are something different. I have concerns about their ability to accurately diagnose a condition without a proper examination. Hazmat them up!!!

[Silver]

1 hour ago, ouija ouija said:

 

I think what itsnotoutthere is annoyed about is the time taken off work . . . the doctor could have phoned him at work. He should have been told this when he first phoned for an appointment. I have sympathy with him because over the last few months the staff at my local health centre have made so many basic mistakes that I've lost all faith in them being able to carry out more complicated stuff..

Yeah, I misread. I should apologise to itsnotoutthere really.

[itsnotoutthere]

2 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Yeah, I misread. I should apologise to itsnotoutthere really.

np.

[itsnotoutthere]

Also...we're constantly fed the line that the NHS needs more money...even when they get more money its still not enough, in which case why do they continue with c**p like this :-

[Silver]

38 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Also...we're constantly fed the line that the NHS needs more money...even when they get more money its still not enough, in which case why do they continue with c**p like this :-

I agree with a lot you say.

I think GPs are over paid- they are generalists and £100k plus is too much imo.

Waiting times are too long, 2 weeks for a phone call is very poor practise. I think the prescription fee for meds should be abolished (it's about £10 per item) but replaced with a £10 GP appointment fee. Eldorado posted a thread here recently that showed something like 20% of pts are responsible for 70% of A&E appointments - I think the same sort of figures apply to GP surgeries. The same people turn up for social reasons (because they are lonely perhaps) and mental health reasons.Frequent attenders is the name given to these people.

I also agree that money is wasted in management and in pointless courses, like 'racial awareness' and stuff like that. 

But I don't trust this government to make reforms - the late and unlamented Matt Hancock was busy introducing Babylon Care into GP surgeries, which is an American company that the GPs didn't want and didn't use, but was earning Matt a useful backhander.

Privatising and introducing a US model will adversely affect most of us (not the wealthy of course who use private care) so I always instinctively react against calls for the NHS to be abolished or privatised.

I have posted a link to info on Malylasia health care - top notch, but it seems two tier and funded by insurance, but you may know better than me.

What I am convinced of, is that US citizens envy our NHS- their insurance system also wastes (or rather costs) a lot of money- $1000 for an ambulance ride, $1000 when you get to A&E etc. People dying because they can't afford insulin. Not acceptable in a 1st world country.

We get a lot of care for our £1000 a year or whatever we pay.

6 Things You Should Know About Healthcare in Malaysia (aia.com.my)