Doctors getting political - at last

[Schenks]

Interesting couple of articles on the insidious dismantling of the NHS by [especially this] government.

theguardian.com/society/201...

theguardian.com/society/201...

[rebekah40]

Thank you for posting - I haven't read them yet, just glanced over them. We all need to take a vested interest in the NHS to hopefully stop it from slowly disappearing (which if this government has it way it will disappear much quicker than we think).

[humanbean]

If GPs want to keep their role in the NHS they are going to have to start fighting really hard.

bbc.co.uk/news/health-31904812

But, from the point of view of a patient (me) looking in, doctors have colluded in their own downfall. The sequence of events appears to have been, starting from the 90s onwards :

1) They championed the cause of evidence-based medicine (EBM), but insisted that the patient and their symptoms would always come first. The assumption was that this would save money and protect the patient from unnecessary drugs, treatments and interventions. (Hahahaha and LOL)

2) The patient and their symptoms became less and less important.

3) The patient and their symptoms were believed less and less.

4) EBM took over completely and the patient is forgotten and/or believed to be lying unless the tests agree with the patient, and now there are GPs who don't even know what the symptoms of some illnesses are.

5) The doctor runs tests according to treatment pathways and flow charts provided on his/her computer, looks at the ranges, sees the patient's results are within the ranges so "Computer says No". Offers the patient anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds or kicks them out of his office. My reaction to that is "I could do that, give us a job."

It seems to me that many in government believe the same thing and are now creating "physician associates" and want to use cheaper pharmacists instead of GPs who are bolshy and expensive.

nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-b...

GPs now have their work cut out convincing the people in government that their job is important and they are needed.

I think my cynicism and grumpy old woman level just reached maximum.

[greygoose]

Love this bit :

'The NHS does a fantastic job of providing excellent patient care that’s free at the point of access,'

Well, that does rather depend on what wrong with you and if they've heard of it!

[Schenks]

Hahaha!!

[Hidden in reply to Schenks]

And they still don't practise evidence based medicine... I think in 50 years time the reliance on current blood test results will look as sensible as the reliance of 18th C doctors on the contents of the potty.

The NHS is just as good as you would expect of any business where

(1) Employees pay is not linked to results. You don't have to cure or help anyone to pay your mortgage.

(2) Customers can help themselves to all the goods and services for free, and the number of customers is constantly increasing.

The logical results is that the services would become increasingly worthless.

[Schenks in reply to Hidden]

I wonder if there is a surgical solution for the malady "cum medicus caput asini"?