Dessimation of the NHS

weownit.org.uk/node/584

How to save the NHS in five easy steps.
Written by a GP.

By the way, the Pulsetoday article title is misleading.
It's not expanding by 220; it's 220% Rather a big difference.

Physician associates are a stopgap. They are trained in two years and paid £50,000.
Nice work; nice pay.
I assume they have to have a first degree before they do the PA course, but even so.

Hunt said there would be 5000 new GPs by 2020. Now he has realised that's impossible, it's 10,000 PAs and 4000 GPs.
I wonder how long it will take before it's the reverse.

The trouble with GPs, PAs and nurse practitioners is that the holistic approach goes, just when they were bringing it in. You are a set of symptoms and illnesses again, no idea of one thing exacerbating the other, until you are very old, and have co-morbidities.

I have no direct experience of physicians associates but know of surgeries who employ them very successfully. I think it would be a good way forward and training more nurse practitioners.

What do you think of the idea of physician associates, mumofmadboys?

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/employment/physician-associate-training-places-to-expand-by-220-next-year/20031163.article

I retired from General Practice two years ago at the age of 56. A lot of my colleagues are retiring at a similar age. Why? Because the workload was excessive and we no longer felt able to give a good service. At times as duty doctor I would see or talk to on the phone 85 patients a day. One of my colleagues got the record in our practice with 105. The potential for making a mistake is huge and job satisfaction working that hard was lower. We desperately need more GPx but need more realistic expectations of what can be achieved in a day.

I agree Alea
And many have retired or will retire because of the government's cap on pension savings. GO shot himself in the foot there imo because it will result in a shortage of senior GPs.
www.gponline.com/exclusive-budget-leaves-retiring-gps-facing-50000-pension-cut/article/1339015

This may have been said already, but my experience over the recent weeks leads me to be convinced that the problem starts at GP level. If you cannot even get to speak to a doctor within a few hours or see one for 3 days at the earliest, it is entirely understandable(although not always appropriate) to go to the next level up, whether that is a walk-in centre ( waiting time yesterday "3-4 hours") or A&E. The knock on effect is that A&E is clogged up very quickly with people who have neither had an accident or constitute an emergency. And a 3-4 hour wait for "urgent" attention?
Our local surgery was closed altogether between 12 and 4 on Wednesday afternoon for "staff training"
So where would I have gone to follow NHS111's advice that DH "must be seen within 2 hours" if his Cellulitis/possible Septic Arthritis had cropped up on Wednesday instead of Thursday ??
Why the does the ENTIRE staff have to be trained in the middle of the day, leaving no cover whatsoever?
Yes the NHS is in trouble, but the new GP contracts introduced a few years ago have been responsible for much of the problem. Maybe we do need more GPs, maybe they are hard to recruit, but the system is not working and compared to the punishing hours worked by hospital doctors, they have less of my sympathy.

www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/chris-miller/tax-avoidance-privatisation-and-national-health-service

This is appalling.
Bristol CCG is changing their constitution to add a clause that says tax avoiding companies will be allowed to bid for NHS business.
There should be no tax avoiding companies. If we know who they are we should tax them.
There should be no companies making profit out of the NHS.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/24/the-guardian-view-on-the-doctors-dispute-is-there-a-politician-in-the-house

Apparently there is a big drop in the numbers of students wanting to study medicine.

Is this part of the decimation of the NHS?
Midwives to be encouraged to leave NHS provision and set up as community providers? Mothers-to-be to be given £3000 to buy services?
Doesn't seem right or fair to me.

nhap.org/the-rose-tinted-privatisation-of-maternity-services-is-underway/

There are two e-petitions on Hunt with over 100,000 signatures.
I wonder if anything will happen next week.

However, this one was only started a week ago.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/121010

This is the one with the most signatures. Not many so far.

I've said that a few times, whitewave, and signed the petitions.
Hunt and Cameron are not listening to us.

Perhaps a new e petition on the government website might get more votes now.

Why cant we have a referendum?

nhap.org/we-need-to-spend-more-on-the-nhs-and-stop-saying-that-healthcare-is-a-drag-on-the-economy/

Jeremy Hunt doesn't look very happy in the photo in this article.
Not surprisingly.

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/18/nhs-providing-poorer-care-as-funding-crisis-deepens-says-survey

www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk/all-guidelines/guidelines/independent-sector-walk-in-centres

www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk/

For those who still do not believe the NHS is being privatised.

It's not what you think it is; NHS is just a brand for independent sector companies to purchase.

Signed.

tompride.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/jeremy-hunt-timeline-of-shame/

153,000 signatures on a government e petition for a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Hunt. This is in less than two days.

I know there's been one before and they dodged it by saying they had considered it.
I'd be surprised if they tried that again.

durham, sadly does not surprise me, there is not a politician among them that will acknowledge the NHS everywhere is in crisis.

Over 70,000 signatures now.
Last night Hunt was supposed to attend a meet-and-greet in his constituency, selling tickets for £15 each.
It had to be cancelled because some junior doctors bought tickets for it.
That's nice, isn't it? He doesn't want to meet junior doctors.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/121262

Over 20,000 signatures now. Anyone else signed it?