Do I Hear Whining?

There Is A Bit Of Unhappiness Across The Pond

After the Prime Minister was blasted with a complaint from a constituent (Tony Blair was embarrassed during a question and answer debate before the last general election when he was challenged by a patient saying he could not book to see his GP), the British NHS bureaucracy went into overdrive.

This was the result:

“What are the payment components of the access DES?
The DES consists of two payments. Component 1 represents a third of the total investment available and is equivalent to 0.69p per patient. It is payable in two halves; the first part, on agreement of a practice plan showing how the practice aims to work towards delivery of improved access in the first three areas above and the second part, on receipt of the practice's written commitment to continue participation in the Primary Care Access Survey (PCAS). However, payment will no longer be dependent on the level of achievement in this survey. Component 2 is paid according to the results of the national patient experience survey, to be carried out in the fourth quarter of the year, which will seek patients' views on a practice's performance in all four access areas above.”

The message to UK GPs: Make yourself accessible or suffer the consequences in your wallet.

Here’s a sampling of responses from the doctors:

“We have tried various methods. My conclusion is that if we were to open from 7am till 12 midnight patients will still be coming through the door. It is usual for patients to call, ask for an emergency appointment and when offered one that was available, demand they want to be seen at a set time and a certain GP of their choice!"
Dr Nabila Khan
Croydon

“We offer same day appointments to anyone who phones before 12PM - irrespective of urgency. However despite this we still get patients swearing blind that they could not get an appointment. One person told me that he was told there was no appointment for the whole of June! It therefore seems to me that we will work our butts off providing access but then fail to achieve the DES because it is based on patient perception. We cannot win!"
Dr Peter Harris
Studley

“It is like telling Tescos they have to offer free baked beans - there will never be enough, and there is no way to ration them."
Dr TIMOTHY KIMBER
Littlehampton

(Ed Note: Tesco is, apparently, a provider of foodstuffs in England.)

Some truisms apply, first, the one about granting people full access to the public treasury, thereby addicting them to its benefits. Another is, there is no way a government can legislate enthusiasm and compassion into those from whom it desires superior performance.

It has taken the UK half a century to get its NHS from birth to here. One wonders if those in the USA who would like a national health program could get to this point faster.

What ever happened to the mantra, “Our enemy is the disease, not each other”?