"A tragic death due to over demand and under capacity"

Brilliant piece.

This should be compulsory reading for our political leaders!

Sigh.

Excellent piece. He should be at the leaders' debate this evening.

Do not understand, Mishap. Why the sigh?

A sigh because the NHS that we all love is being so seriously undermined.

What I am finding particularly alarming is that globalization and large corporation is winning the argument. The hegemony is gradually blotting out any alternative argument, and support for the democratic process.

You only have to look at countries where for various reasons "big" business has won the day and see what sort of society they are creating. There are many examples in Africa and South America. Of course it was relatively easy in many of these countries given the political systems that existed, but I am in not doubt that there are many areas in more democratic countries where democracy finds it difficult for its voice to be heard.
An example of this is how difficult Obama has found it to introduce Health Care, no doubt he miscalculated the level of opposition from the Insurance companies , doctors the republican party etc, he was always going to find it near impossible to introduce a total packet of measures, and the final bill was watered down considerably. The failure of gun control is another example where business has an enormous vested interest.

We now have TTIP to contend with in democratic Europe, a contract that will benefit particularly the USA's large corporations, and we can see from above what power they will have no trouble in wielding.

Excellent piece, if only it could make some difference to the demise of our NHS.

One can only live in hope.

I am not quite sure what the writer of this article is trying to say (or promote).

As he acknowledged, his parents did not want to "bother the GP". It appears that his mother had been ill for some days before a GP appointment was sought, she was ill in bed and seemed to be deteriorating. If the surgery had been made aware of these facts, I feel sure, particularly bearing in mind her age, she would have been able to see a doctor. Also, the writer of the article is a doctor. Why did his father not consult him as to her symptoms and ask him for his advice as to whether he should insist on seeing a GP without delay?

It seems to me that under the guise of an article criticising successive governments for under-resourcing the health service and allowing academia and bureacracy to set the agenda, he is suggesting that the NHS's role should be re-examined. He says: "We do not have the capacity to meet all ‘wants’ anymore, and as much as I would like to, I have to be realistic in that I can only give so much of my time in a finite system to those who are ill and whom I can help influence their health." That is very vague - what exactly does he mean? What sort of "wants" does he feel should not be provided for under the NHS?

He has published this article on the Resilient GP website and he is listed as one of the Resilient GP "team". It is not clear whether it is a business or a charity and whilst the article has a crusading tone about it, the organisation seems to be in the business of providing one-day courses, mentoring services, etc.

I do understand how difficult it is to get a GP appointment here in the north east. My GP told me I had to return on Christmas Eve to get the results of an x-ray, he suspected I had pneumonia, I asked the receptionist to give me an appointment. I was told there were none left and I could queue first thing in the morning, doors opened at 8am and he suggested I arrive outside an hour or so before to ensure I was at the front of the queue. Our surgery does operate a walk in system for cases that can't wait for an appointment but several times I have been turned away because the waiting room was full and GP wouldn't be able to cope with the numbers.
I have never seen a GP out on house calls, where I live, everybody seems to struggle to the surgery or a walk in centre.

The NHS set up at the end of the 2nd WW has been systematically dismantled by every succeeding gov, so what is left is increasingly unable to carry out their mandate. Despite this the gov demands that overwhelmed medical workers should carry out an impossible mission by increasing their efforts without enabling this by increasing resources. What happened to this woman might not have if she had felt entitled enuf to demand priority medical assistance. The message is speak up and vote for proper funding for health care.

There is a problem with recruiting GPs, my own surgery is having difficulty, but I've never had to wait for an appointment. Successive governments seem to have tried to save money by poaching doctors from the third world rather than pay to train our own, which is a scandal in itself. If GPs are perceived to be overworked then it will be difficult to recruit, and if you can't recruit, doctors will become more overworked. Catch 22.

But there's more to the NHSs problems than that. Gerry Robinson found surgeons all bunking off to play golf on a Friday afternoon, and couldn't put a stop to it even with the TV cameras there. When they filmed the follow up later, the surgeons all showed up wearing T shirts printed with a slogans gloating about having won. How many other employers would put up with that? Robinson concluded that the NHSs problems were down to attitude, not lack of money.

We hear about overworked nurses, but the evidence would suggest a similar problem there too. Hospital inspector Michael Mandelstam tells of an incident when a retired nurse went to visit a relative, and found a ward full of bewildered dementia patients wandering around plastered in crap whilst the nurses all sat at the desk chatting. When she had a word with them, one gave her a load of abuse saying "I didn't come into nursing just to clean up shit!"

When Kane Gorny died of thirst, it took the conspiracy of an entire ward, not just one bad apple.

Hmm. Not sure he can blame the NHS or other patients for his parents not knowing "how to press the right buttons" (or some such phrase), nor because even though his father found his mother unconscious he did not ring 999 and ask for an ambulance. They "didn't want to bother the GP". Why ever not? I'm sorry for the untimely death and I'm sorry for the lady's grieving relatives but I really don't think the couple helped themselves very much. Why did the father not phone his doctor son and ask for advice?

It sounds to me as if the lady and her husband simply didn't know how ill she was. You can't blame someone else for that.

"They "didn't want to bother the GP". Why ever not?"

The first time I went to A&E with my arrhythmia the consultant in Resus told me off for not calling sooner, I didn't know I'd been at risk of a stroke. Now I'm under instructions to call within 15mins, but then get sniped at for being a "frequent flyer" when I do.

I agree with you eloethan and bags.
I am sure the writer's grievances with the system in which he works may well be justified, but to peg his article on his mother's death seems a cheap shot and to me devalues the article.
And I am sure that there are some middle-class people, and even possibly some upper-class ones, who are just as reluctant to 'bother the GP' as his mother was.

I agree with eloethan and thatbags too.

The NHS set up at the end of the 2nd WW has been systematically dismantled by every succeeding gov, so what is left is increasingly unable to carry out their mandate
armamai that is a very sweeping statement, and I would dispute it. The NHS was set up in 1948 to bring good healthcare to all; some of the demands on it nowadays would astonish those who had that vision all those years ago.

I agree with Eloethan. I don't think the NHS can be blamed on this.

Harrigran that is diabolical!

on this occasion

When I had labyrinthitis, and couldn't move without vomiting, I had no problem getting a doctor to call on me. Perhaps this is another postcode issue. A triage nurse can pass on a patient to a doctor if she isn't in a position to diagnose and/or prescribe. In this case, the writer's parents are of my generation - in fact, his mother was younger than I am. They grew up under the NHS. It was their - and my - parents' generation that was reluctant to 'bother the doctor'. I feel that he 'doth protest too much'.

Free dental care, free eye care, free prescriptions, etc all gone.

Free dental care, free eye care, free prescriptions, etc all gone

I agree with Elothan and Thatbags. it seems to me that his bad conscience is talking. Shocking that a father cannot talk to a son who is a doctor and ask for help to take control of the situation. We did that for our parents and we are not doctors.

Tattoo removal, gastric bands, plastic surgery for people who want larger breasts for their self-esteem etc etc - all in

I am just remembering our GPs from my childhood, three in the practice, weekend working, home visits, night visits, calling to see patients in hospital (I still remember a visit when I was in hospital even though I was only 6 at the time).

How on earth did they do it all without burnout?