From the Telegraph. A bit worrying.
FAMILY doctors are being paid £100 an hour to work from home carrying out video and phone consultations, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Firms which provide GPs to the NHS are offering the rates for those seeking flexible lifestyles – which mean they do not have to see patients in person.
It comes on top of a new NHS deal for GP services, which will see them paid extra for hitting targets to carry out more online consultations.
I had to pick something up from my GP this morning. It was supposed to be in the mailbox but she'd not done it when I got up there and it was urgent. There was a queue literally out of the door - 7 or 8 patients waiting to see her. FACE TO FACE!!! There have been NO video appointments - what you couldn't sort with a phone call, you were given an appointment time where you waited outside until the previous patient was finished. I excused myself and went in to rap on her door - just in case the current patient had only just gone in. She came out a few minutes later when the patient was done and gave me the stuff. Just wondering how I'd have got on in the UK - probably still be fighting with a receptionist now ...
This is unbelievable isn't it? There aren't enough doctors as it is, now they want to reward those that are, to stay home and not bother to get off their backsides and actual 'treat' people like human beings!! It's obviously the thing to study from now on. Patients are SUCH a nuisance - there's nothing wrong with half of them anyway! Grrrr!
We always said the NHS would be FINE if there weren't any patients ...
They are also implementing more phone consultations here in Canada.Must be nice to get paid for such little service.Obviously people are going to fall thru the cracks concerning healthcare.
I don’t know about others but I find on-line consultations difficult. I feel as if I can’t get my point across somehow and immediately feel time constrained. I avoid it if possible.It is sad how the service has been allowed to deteriorate and how undervalued GPs seem to feel. It feels like the wanton destruction of a world class service. My son in law ( GP) is better treated and better paid in Australia.
I can't get my head round the stupidity! I have 3 friends who just can't/won't us a computer. Others are just too disabled to use one. Should they just sit and die? There will be fewer and fewer doctors who are willing to drive to their surgeries, see patients F2F for 'probably' less money.
3 years ago, so before COVID my Sons GP Practice in Norfolk where trailing a new system of call backs and video appointments .
So it does appear thay where looking to make changes .
Hi, I think it’s a disgrace that doctors are hardly seeing any patients, it’s also applying to practice nurses. I have been told by the hospital to get my stitches out on a certain date, give or take a day here and there, however, when I phoned my surgery for appt I was told nurse only works 2 mornings a week and no appt available for a week so go to minor local A/E, I think that is terrible.
Xx
I have to say I think it varies by practice. My surgery hasn’t stopped face to face appointments! If you need a face to face you can get one. However, they then have to clean the surgery room thoroughly, change their PPE etc. Before Covid started they offered telephone appointments & I preferred them during the winter as less chance to catch infections going there. I know my doctor well, & find the phone communication easy. He was on holiday this week & I had to talk to a doctor I’ve never met, but still found it easy.I make a list of points I want to cover & questions. They are finding they can see a much greater number of patients this way, in the time available, so you have to wait a shorter time to get an appointment. They have always run a triage daily system. This week I was worried I was heading for an adrenal crisis & had become quite sick. I phoned the triage & spoke to a senior nurse in the practice, who put me on the triage list for that morning. The doctor phoned me back within 15 minutes. I don’t understand why other surgeries cannot follow this route & help their patients. I guess we are very lucky. Although it’s a rural practice it covers several villages. Just thought I’d add my experiences during the pandemic! S x
That all sounds sensible. I think morale is low at my surgery, it used to be excellent, then the senior partner retired and they never got their mojo back. It always traces back to good leadership or the lack of it.
That’s a shame, especially when you know it has been good! We have some really enthusiastic people, doctors, nurses, in-house pharmacy...just very lucky indeed. Hope yours picks up again, team spirit is what they need to get through this pandemic, I reckon! S x
It's a fact of life that nothing stays the same, and we have to roll with the changes. I can get a F2F appointment with my GP when it's really necessary, but frankly I mostly prefer phone consultations. I used to time F2F appts before covid because they seemed so brief - 3 minutes was the average. Pointless really. And I'm even more relieved to have had phone consultations with my rheumy who is pretty much disinterested - three hours travelling there and back for a five minute meeting was the norm. Phone consultations with her have been even briefer. How are you? I'm fine. Oh good. I'll post put the next appt date. Bye. But I do agree that the old and frail can be particularly let down by the new normal. Until/unless we get more GPs, things are unlikely to go back to how they were.
Here is the US they have had video appointments online since the pandemic started, it works very well. For the call the GPs are usually at their desk, you can also use the other option if you feel a video is not going to work, and get a doctors office appointment.
They do have ad hoc video appointments around my area too, although most are just phone. They have an on-line system called E-Consult where you fill in a form on the internet. The only trouble is you need a PhD in form filling to do it and a lot of spare time. It does seem to work quite well though.
Does work …..surely not too difficult for a person of your calibre. 😳
I did not say it did not work, I just find it is a pain to fill in. Last time I filled it in it came up with a flashing sign saying contact 111 immediately! Frightened me out of my wits
What was the trigger - did you find out?
Pressed the wrong button? Same question as PMRpro.
They use them in the Highlands and Islands - have done for some years. Saves flying patients to Aberdeen or Glasgow.
I suppose they had the Flying Doctor in Australia for years.
Still do!
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