Want to know why doctors aren’t referring patients?

[hellybaybee]

Want to know why doctors aren’t keen on referring you onward to specialists anymore? Apparently they’re incentivised not to speakout.38degrees.org.uk/c...

[hypercat54]

This is only a trial at the moment and only involves 5 areas. Let's hope it is dropped and quickly. x

[hellybaybee in reply to hypercat54]

With any luck, I think that’s why it’s important... it shouldn’t even have a trial imo

I think when these things happen with the nhs, the writing is on the wall. Look at what happened with liothyronine x

[Archway]

Signed.

[silverfox7]

Signed the petition.

[Taminaone in reply to silverfox7]

Signed

[Ali8655]

Signed

[twinx60]

signed

[Flecmac]

Signed!!! Thank you!!

[ShinyB]

Even without financial incentives, they are leaned on not to make referrals, not to prescribe certain drugs, not to investigate. I sat next to a retired GP at a xmas meal who told me this.

[hellybaybee in reply to ShinyB]

Doesn’t surprise me

[hairyfairy]

I can`t help but feel that there`s a conspiracy amongst the powers that be to kill off the people they consider useless. The elderly, disabled & poor.

[Katelou]

Signed, why is living such a fight!

[Pearlanncollins]

Signed

[mtcorr]

This from the GP pulse magazine sums it up from a Doctors perspective

pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commi....

- everyone needs to remember just because Jeremy ?unt face proposes it (no one calls him by his real name in General Practice), it is not necessarily accepted in General Practice by the majority of GP's.

Jeremy himself has admitted he is working to a five year plan and boy is he achieving it and part and parcel of that is dissention in camp, when patients believe (and if you believe the gutter press you may well do) that General Practice is an 'them and us situation'. Then he has achieved his plan of privatisation of the NHS.

I am talking from 23 years in General Practice and believe in fact not fiction. Fact there are no GP's today a friend with a sister in London says she has to wait 6-8 weeks for a GP appointment (someone from London may back me up on this). Here in NI we have had practice closures (this never happened in the past there was always someone to takeover). There are no locums - In the past if a Doctor was off on holidays or sick I would have a list of at least 50 locums to work through to find a replacement. Now there is hardly anyone on the list and getting them is impossible. The same situation is emerging with Nurses - you may be familiar with visiting your practice nurse for things like and MOT, Copd or asthma review well that will shortly become a thing of the past.

As for incentives for money - well there is currently one in NI for Records and Systems where doctors are to review there referrals - so why do you seriously think they do this? Do you think they want to reduce their referrals? No - its yet another of the nonsense hoops we have to jump through to get any funding in General Practice (remember we don't make the rules). I have yet to meet a doctor who will moderate there referrals (I know a lot of Doctors). They already make referrals where they deem necessary bearing in mind local/national guidelines (funny they don't write these either).

It is a noted fact that 'Red Flag Referrals' i.e. those deemed immediately necessary or cancerous have a 2% outcome rate. This means in reality that of 100 red flag referrals approximately 2 will need further treatment or will be deemed cancer. The other 98% have a happy outcome. Now Doctors feel this 2% is fantastic - for one in General Practice we do not have the means to investigate major problems such as CT scans/MRI or indeed oncology skills. It really depends on perspective if you are one of the 98% it does not diminish the fact the trauma you have gone through until you have had you happy result. If you are one of the 2% happy days its bad news but there is now a chance of treatment. I do not know a Doctor that would not refer the 100% for the chance of catching the 2%. Never mind the near £10,000 they have to pay in indemnity insurance to gain £5 to pay out thousands.

General Practice is currently on its knees and for years I have been reading the money we make - well for one in 17 years the accounts have been my soul responsibility and if we are making so much money where am I going wrong?

When General Practice is gone it will be gone - models of health care will be much the same as the USA and I am afraid that only those whom can pay will receive appropriate care the rest of us will be left like cattle fodder.

Also with regards to prescribing, in Northern Ireland at least we receive no incentive for what we prescribe. There has been schemes in the past were we have been paid a % of prescribing costs made in reduction of switching from high priced drugs but nothing now. Please note that these prescribing incentive savings could only be spent on patient benefits i.e equipment for patient diagnosis such as ecg or spirometry machines. Not the lining of GP pockets that is often implied. We also do not set the drugs/medications allowed this is through local guidelines or formulary.

In summary I have not know one good thing that has come out of the mouth of old Jeremy (?unt). Why would you believe a word he says without research into his ulterior

motives?

Exasperated.