NHS

My dd is a student doctor. She hopes one day to combine her career with having a family, maybe working part-time for some of that. That's the way the world of work is going and we have to change our expectations, really.

The 'family doctors' of old are gone for many, especially as doctors now have so much bureaucracy and admin to deal with.

I don't agree that doctors should be forced to work for the NHS for a certain period. No one else in the UK has to do that, plus doctors are more likely than many graduates to eventually repay their student loans and pay more tax.

I do think more use should be made of other health professionals such as pharmacists and specialist nurses. For instance, my Dh needs his ears syringed. To get that done, he has to see a doctor, who will tell him to make an appointment with a nurse, all of which will takes weeks. Instead, he's going to a private clinic on Tuesday, which will do the job for about £40. I suppose that's a win for the NHS, really, but not everyone has the money to solve that particular problem.

I don't find part time doctors better than full time, have blood tests , check results and either a weeks wait for your GP ,or two weeks if she is booked up, other choice is another doctor who will phone you, give results but tell you to see them to discuss it further , this means going over the same problems again.

Well we already fund it ourselves by paying our taxes. We could all pay a bit more that way, instead of paying a lot more for insurance companies to make a profit.

It could well be a good thing to have more part timers, four part time doctors instead of two full time doctors will mean a greater range of opinion and experience.

Part time doctors will surely be fresher and and sharper than a worn out full timer. Plus, part time workers often put in more than their contracted hours, so we gain that way.

If doctors can spend more time with their children, surely that's a good thing.

I agree that those who have been trained by the NHS should spend at least as long as their training time working for the NHS, perhaps they could choose five years full time or ten years part time, or a mixture of the two.

A part time GP's wage is equal to a full minor management wage. (eg shop manager) I don't begrudge them that, except that nowadays some GP's only want to write a prescription to cover the symptoms rather then try to heal the problem. A robot could do that.

My surgery has nine G.P's. Four are female, my GP ,female , worked two days a week, two other female job share. Some of the male GP's are part time because they choose to work part of the week at the hospital twenty miles away and I know two only work part time.