Department for Waiting Lists
Bedside manner needs work
Ah, the British Medical Association. Is it a union? A club? A whinge-chamber? And how does it continue to exist, given that its single historic achievement was a failed attempt to prevent the creation of the National Health Service, which we're continually told is Cherished By All Of Us?
Now it's Alan Johnson's turn to take on the peevish might of the BMA, this time over evening surgery hours. He's writing directly to GPs in Britain to encourage them to accept a new arrangement to cover evening and weekend opening, with the threat of imposing a settlement hanging over them.
In response, the BMA has set up a wizard campaigning page which allows busy GPs to auto-generate an email to their local MP which says the following:
As a constituent and a GP in your constituency, I am seriously concerned about what the Government is trying to do to general practice in England. I believe the current policies and plans being proposed by the Government could significantly undermine the high standards of clinical care I offer to my patients.
You may be aware that the Government is threatening to force practices to open after 6.30pm and on Saturdays for routine appointments. A major national survey of 2 million voters (which cost £11million pounds) found that 84% of patients were happy with existing appointment hours. I would be interested to hear whether you think it is a good use of taxpayers’ money to fund extended opening hours when there is little demand for this service locally.
You may also be aware that the Government is moving resources from the Quality and Outcomes Framework, which is an evidence based scheme to improve quality of care, to help fund the extended hours initiative. I am concerned that the Government rejected suggestions from the BMA that money which could be spent on tackling osteoporosis, heart failure and kidney failure will instead be spent on extending surgery hours. I would be interested to hear whether you think scarce NHS funds should be spent on extended hours at the expense of improvements in clinical care?
Furthermore, the loss of significant sums could have a major impact upon the ability of practices such as ours to deliver clinical care. There is also a risk that our practice may not be able to maintain the current level of service we provide to our patients if our resources are cut back.
I urge you to lobby the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health to ask them to come back to the negotiating table with the profession. While I am willing to modernise my practice, it would be indefensible for the Government to sacrifice patient care and the goodwill of GPs in the interest of a purely political agenda.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with you in more depth.
So, some questions: where do we find this survey which says people are "happy with existing appointment hours"? Is money really being moved from the Quality and Outcomes Framework directly into longer opening hours? And why is patient convenience evidence of a "purely political agenda," unless that agenda is aimed at, you know, making people, like, happier and everything?
Answers on a postcard. Or in the comments.
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