Will general practice as we know it survive in this economic climate?

We are not sure.  Below is a document written by a local GP colleague who is trying to raise awareness of the pressure that NHS GPs are under.  Reading it, I am struggling to see how the wonderful NHS GP service that we know and love is going to survive.  We are posting it to help with awareness as we fully support our NHS GP colleagues and believe that the role of GP is such a crucial one to this nation.  Here it is:



£136 per year – what can you buy?

- 11 months pet insurance; it costs £151 to insure one rabbit for a year with Petplan
- 6 months mobile phone use; one year on a Vodafone sim-only tariff costs £264
- 5 months Sky TV family bundle 
- less than 3 tanks of fuel for a Vauxhall Astra
- coffee on your way to work for 3 months

Or…

…one year of funding per patient for the average general practice.

Yes. £136. Less than the cost of pet insurance, or a mobile phone, or Sky TV, or 3 tanks of fuel. And many practices get far less than this.
And what do you get for your £136?
  • As many consultations with your GP or other practice staff as you need
  • Prescriptions organised and signed
  • Blood tests
  • Other tests e.g. ECGs
  • Hospital referrals
  • Pre-hospital care
  • Post-hospital care
  • Home visits if required
GPs use this money to:
  • Pay for their premises
  • Pay doctors and nurses
  • Pay their reception and admin staff
  • Pay for electricity, gas, phone bills
  • Buy/maintain surgery equipment and drugs
  • Pay for CQC inspections
  • Pay for accountancy, legal advice
  • Pay for professional insurance
It’s not much, is it?

GP funding has fallen by nearly 1/3 in the last five years.
General practice is in crisis – without better funding, we cannot continue.

What can you do to help?

  • Please don’t waste appointments. If you can’t make your appointment, cancel in good time
  • Think about if you really need an appointment – could the pharmacist help?
  • Order your repeat prescriptions in good time rather than at the last minute
  • Only request a home visit if you are genuinely housebound
  • Contact your MP. Tell them how much you value your GP surgery

Dr Amanda Northridge
Medical Director 

Comments

  1. Rather infra dig to use #NHSGP to advertise your profit making venture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting that you interpret this as advertising - we support the NHS, all work in the NHS and are doing what we can to raise the profile of the strain that the NHS is currently under.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your company is a self designated 'Private' organization - ipso facto this is an advert?

    GPs are all private contractors TO the NHS - not employees of the NHS.
    You claim that 'you' work IN the NHS, but don't explain how you differ from the usual GP contracted to provide services to people via the NHS.
    Do you, for example, provide your services in the same way as so called Agency nurses and other medical persons - at enormously inflated costs to a hard pressed service which provided the facilities (Including the patients) FoC for many of such to gain their qualifications?
    Or, do you act in the way that other private medical consultants do - enable people who can afforded to pay over and above the standard contributions, to queue jump?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most odd that on my latest, the Time Stamp quoted 01.54, when in UK it was 08.54 GMT - is your parent coy in US(A) perchance?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oxford Private GP20 March 2016 at 15:20
      No
      ---------------
      You mean that you're unable to respond to :

      ''You claim that 'you' work IN the NHS, but don't explain how you differ from the usual GP contracted to provide services to people via the NHS.''

      which speaks for itself.

      Delete
  5. Thank you - what was wrong - did it need a Pace-Maker?

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AP Really? Firstly do you really need to be so rude and challenging. It never wins an argument. You are clearly just trying to cause problems. Have you nothing better to do with your life! People have choice. If the NHS was better managed by the managers- by that I don't mean Dr's. I mean general non clinical staff then everyone would be better. Off.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Henretta316 April 2016 at 22:23
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    ----
    Henretta316 April 2016 at 22:19
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    ----
    Henretta316 April 2016 at 22:21
    AP Really? Firstly do you really need to be so rude and challenging
    ----
    1).... One hopes that you are not a clinician of any sort, as a 1 in 3 success rate might be considered to be below par.
    ----
    2)..... Do you not remember this little 'stanza' ?
    ''I am questioning
    You are challenging
    They are rude.''

    3)..... ''If the NHS was better managed by the managers- by that I don't mean Dr's. I mean general non clinical staff then everyone would be better. Off.''
    3.1)..... Is that not ever so slightly ''challenging''?
    3.2)..... Do please remind me - Who is it who runs the CCGs and has control of the distribution of some £70 000 000 000 / year of NHS funds?
    http://www.nhsforsale.info/database/impact-database/conflict-of-interest/CLINICAL-COMMISSIONING-GROUPS-GPs.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. AP Really!
    Firstly my two comments were removed as there was a typo on predictive text and I knew( and proved right that your small mindedness would try to turn it into something to win your case) Although no one reading this would be clear about what that is. Why are you looking at the Private Practice?
    The point is that there is choice. If a person wants to go privately it is up to them. It is not your place to comment how they choose to spend there money. Private practice has it place. And it helps alot of people get the help they need.
    Are you a reporter just trying to get a story. You clearly have an axe to grind. But you are really going the wrong way about it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. As Archie Andrews might have said, on a bad day :
    ''Gottle a Geer''

    ReplyDelete
  12. As I thought you are sadly a dummy. Not a person with something valued to say. subject closed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 essentials your GP keeps in the cupboard over Christmas

What a Headache!