Anyone else feel a sense of impending doom that we’ll have a Labour government tomorrow?

My main complaint, is how badly run and inefficient so many government services are.I don't mean government style efficiencies, which just mean reducing the money available but organisational inefficiency.

Last week I saw a doctor privately. He examined me and said I needed tests, sent me the link and said, when you have the dates for the test make anothe appointment to see me approximately 2 weeks later. I did just that and I have date for the tests and the follow up appointment.

Several months ago 111 sent me to A&E because I had palpitations and an irregular heart beat. I was told to go back to my GP and arrange to have a 24 hour cardiac monitor. The emergency doctor sent my GP a request for the test at the same time. I rang the surgery who said the GP would be in touch. He sent me a link to make an appointment for the monitor. I tried a number of times over the following month to make the appointment but always got a 'No appointment available, fully booked' message and no instructions what to do next. Then the code I had been given expired, so I contacted the surgery, made it very clear what test I was waiting. So they made an appointment to see a cardiac consultant. I told them I already had one, what I needed was a 24 hour monitor, as per hospital and doctor request. Silence.

Last week, with the consultant's appointment approaching fast, I made another attempt to get the monitor. This time I was told that they had spoken to the consultant and no monitor is required. I am more than willing to bet that when I see the consultant my heart will be behaving perfectly and he will say that he wants me to have a 24 hour monitor and then to see me again.

Can anyone see how much more efficient the second problem would be with a bit of joined up thinking?

The increasing use of practice/prescribing nurses is helping at our practice. They’re experienced nurses, have excellent listening and diagnostic skills. I’m waiting 3 weeks because I need. Doctor. It seems though they’re difficult to get, when you do see a GP you aren’t rushed out in 5 it 10 minutes.

I appreciate I can’t dictate where my taxes are spent. I’m more confident the current govt wants to redbuild nit destroy our public servuces

OldFrill
There are many and various ways to improve GP services without recruiting doctors.
And those are . . .

For example, DH tried to get an appointment for a lesion which has appeared on his neck. He was “triaged” to the local pharmacy.

I stood and listened as the pharmacist asked, “Do you know what it is?

DH replied “I don’t but it’s worrying me”.
The pharmacist said . . .
wait for it . . .

I don’t know what it is either. Try this cream for a couple of weeks first.

The lesion is still there and more pronounced and there are no drs. appointments available at the moment.

The extra tax you pay might be used to pay the additional 300 planning officers for instance

GSM that would be fine. And if those additional officers speed up the planning process, also fine.

I realise we can’t itemise what our taxes are spent on. However, by having a government that is honest, decent and trustworthy, we can feel secure that our taxes will contribute to the betterment of the country. Unlike the previous government, who took high taxes yet decimated public services

Whitewavemark2

Labour

Democracy!

Primarily the opportunity to choose the leadership, and feed into party policy.

Reform does none of those things.

Yet.

I doubt it - it’s just to speed up the planning process.

Germanshepherdsmum

Iam64

I don’t mind my pension being hit to improve the nhs

Trouble is, you have no say in what your taxes are used for. The extra tax you pay might be used to pay the additional 300 planning officers for instance.

That's OK too, if it results in better planned communities.

Iam64

I don’t mind my pension being hit to improve the nhs

Trouble is, you have no say in what your taxes are used for. The extra tax you pay might be used to pay the additional 300 planning officers for instance.

maddyone

There won’t be lots more doctors for years Molly unfortunately. It takes many years to train a doctor and they can’t go straight into GP surgeries without a further three year training course. Many more doctors in the immediate future is impossible. Where are they coming from? Like the 6000 more teachers, they’re coming from cloud cuckoo land. An improved offer to the doctors is crucial but it won’t solve the doctor shortage.

There are many and various ways to improve GP services without recruiting doctors.

Whitewavemark2

Blimey ronib have you swallowed Reform hook line and sinker😄😄.

I would take a deep breath if I were you

I find it enlightening to hear other views, no matter how ridiculous they are.

I don’t mind my pension being hit to improve the nhs

Mollygo

maddyone

There won’t be lots more doctors for years Molly unfortunately. It takes many years to train a doctor and they can’t go straight into GP surgeries without a further three year training course. Many more doctors in the immediate future is impossible. Where are they coming from? Like the 6000 more teachers, they’re coming from cloud cuckoo land. An improved offer to the doctors is crucial but it won’t solve the doctor shortage.

I know, but that’s what we’re told.
growstuff
There could be more funding for GP practices to employ the newly trained GPs who currently can't find jobs.

There could indeed. I’ll be looking out for it, but where will it come from? Will my pension be hit again?

No idea whether your pension will be hit, but on balance I'd rather have better GP services than a higher pension and have to pay for my medical care.

maddyone

Thank you for the link Siope. Sadly it confirms what I was already aware of. I’m actually sickened by what the previous government have done to the NHS, especially to GP practice. How dare they block GP practices from employing doctors? I’m utterly disgusted by this. I obviously knew that Physician Associates are being trained and used in GP practice, but did the previous government actually think that people trained to an inferior standard are acceptable to replace properly qualified doctors?

It seems like they did.

Like MOnica, I'd like to see GPs working longer hours seeing patients, not spending their time on paperwork and trying to hit targets.

Practice nurses, paramedics, PAs etc have a place and can help relieve some of the pressure, but there's evidence they're not always properly supervised. It's appalling that practices can't employ more GPs, but are allowed funding for other staff.

ronib

Growstuff read the judgement? I assume you have?

You assume correctly.

It would be quite nice if all the GPs in our practive could do surgeries every day. I appreciate that they have other work to do within the practice, but doing surgeries 4 days a week instead of 2 would make an enormous difference.

I would be wary of persistently unemployed GPs going back to work without a lot of checks.

A friend was a was the legal chair of Social Security Tribunals, many unemployed doctors worked for the DWP carrying out examinations for long term sick pay PIP etc etc. Her comments on the quality of the medical reports she received and the doctors who wrote them, could only make on glad that they couldn't get jobs as GPs.

I honestly don't think the ordinary person in the street will notice any difference now Labour's in power. The next budget they bring out might reveal some nasty shocks though.

Huge increase in number of medical students here. In six years time we'll start to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, for us, very few Scottish ones as far as I could see during the recent exams.

Thank you for the link Siope. Sadly it confirms what I was already aware of. I’m actually sickened by what the previous government have done to the NHS, especially to GP practice. How dare they block GP practices from employing doctors? I’m utterly disgusted by this. I obviously knew that Physician Associates are being trained and used in GP practice, but did the previous government actually think that people trained to an inferior standard are acceptable to replace properly qualified doctors?

maddyone

There won’t be lots more doctors for years Molly unfortunately. It takes many years to train a doctor and they can’t go straight into GP surgeries without a further three year training course. Many more doctors in the immediate future is impossible. Where are they coming from? Like the 6000 more teachers, they’re coming from cloud cuckoo land. An improved offer to the doctors is crucial but it won’t solve the doctor shortage.

I know, but that’s what we’re told.
growstuff
There could be more funding for GP practices to employ the newly trained GPs who currently can't find jobs.

There could indeed. I’ll be looking out for it, but where will it come from? Will my pension be hit again?

Growstuff read the judgement? I assume you have?

ronib

Doodledog and LizzieDrip there’s recognition that this country has now moved away from lawlessness and disorder but caused by an absence of cohesive government? Surely caused by a bureaucracy which failed to endorse the policies of the Conservative government?
However if the sunlit uplands are in sight under Labour, all well and good as this country is in desperate need of better governance. But it’s very early days and the bureaucracy is happy for the time being. Will it last?

Who knows. There is a lot of ground to make up. But the lawlessness has been seen in the lack of respect for the law by partying politicians, by cronyism and so on, and is almost certainly one of the main reasons the Tories did as badly as they did.

I don't have a sense of impending doom - more a sense of hope that it's not too late to turn the corner, but I don't know whether that is the case or not.

maddyone

There won’t be lots more doctors for years Molly unfortunately. It takes many years to train a doctor and they can’t go straight into GP surgeries without a further three year training course. Many more doctors in the immediate future is impossible. Where are they coming from? Like the 6000 more teachers, they’re coming from cloud cuckoo land. An improved offer to the doctors is crucial but it won’t solve the doctor shortage.

There could be more funding for GP practices to employ the newly trained GPs who currently can't find jobs. The government could also listen to GPs and find out why so many are going abroad or leaving the profession - and maybe do something to alleviate the pressures.

As with teachers, maybe there could be a limit to the amount of red tape and an effort to value them more.

A lot of ‘Yes,Minister’ seems to go on whatever party is in power.

maddyone

There won’t be lots more doctors for years Molly unfortunately. It takes many years to train a doctor and they can’t go straight into GP surgeries without a further three year training course. Many more doctors in the immediate future is impossible. Where are they coming from? Like the 6000 more teachers, they’re coming from cloud cuckoo land. An improved offer to the doctors is crucial but it won’t solve the doctor shortage.

There is, the BMA say, a significant number of doctors who cannot get work, as a result of the last government preventing practices from hiring doctors and practice nurses.

Alongside that, BMA research shows that locum doctors are finding it difficult to get positions (again because of the previous governments restrictions on hiring) www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/over-80-of-locum-gps-struggle-to-find-work-finds-bma-survey

Cuts in funding - or reallocating budgets away from primary care - have obviously also had an impact.

I’m not suggesting there is a miracle overnight cure, and there is clearly a need to look at recruitment and training, but there are steps that can be taken quickly which will have a positive impact.

ronib

growstuff what do you mean? The civil service is there to carry out the wishes of government. The law is supreme? Are you not understanding that the Civil Service deliberately held up the law on immigration to prevent the Conservative policy being enacted? The government was acting lawfully.

No ronib the government was not acting lawfully.