He added: “This is the first overtly dramatic case, but it’s certainly one of the main things that’s quoted in the reason GPs are leaving the profession.”
Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the RCGP, said: “GPs spend a large amount of their time on box-ticking and filling forms, which is frustrating because it takes us away from frontline patient care – but the non-clinical members of our practice teams, such as our practice managers and receptionists, also often find themselves snowed under with bureaucracy.”
Who would have thought that having government for a customer could cause that?
. . . which is frustrating because it takes us away from frontline patient care . . .
Is he taking the piss?
Patsy Hewitt shovelled masses of dosh at GPs. I met several who could afford to retire after a few years on the new contracts.
Fill in some forms ? Cry me a river.
I have a very good friend who was a practice manager at a large North London practice when New Labour started chucking money at GPs. He figured out the way to meet and exceed all the various targets and on year the senior doctor ended up with a bonus of over £600k and the most junior doctor over £100k. That was on top of their normal earning, the senior doctor got close to £1m that year.
He left in disgust.
I find it hard to have sympathy over filling out a few forms.
Since they are doing fuckall else at the moment and expecting full –indeed enhanced–pay a few forms will give the mugs something to occupy their so-called minds.
Are these the over-worked GPs who average 3 days work a week?
An interesting suggestion from GBN. I think from Karol Sikora. Allow us to escape from the GP gatekeeper problem. I’ve been on the same medication for 17 years. I know what I need and when. Why do I need to get a scrip from the GP for repeats? Why not make those meds OTC with a card detailing what is on repeat? Also applies to regular blood tests and such. Anything that requires a GP referral to access a service the GP doesn’t provide. It’s not exactly revolutionary, lots of better healthcare systems do it. If there aren’t enough GPs, enable the process to live without them.
“GPs spend a large amount of their time on box-ticking and filling forms, which is frustrating because it takes us away from frontline patient care”
Given how sh1t the average GP is, you’d expect the health of the nation to improve as a result of them cocking things up less
@rhoda
“Why do I need to get a scrip from the GP for repeats? Why not make those meds OTC with a card detailing what is on repeat?”
In principle at least, the GP has a duty to check certain things between signing the next scrip off. Whether you’ve been put on other drugs which don’t mix well with what you’re on, or whether a consultant at the hospital has suggested you be taken off or have your dose changed. My pharmacy sometimes tells me the GP has blocked my repeat prescription when I’m overdue a blood test to check for long-term side effects. Your GP might want you to come in for a medication review occasionally. A repeat prescription is not supposed to be an automatic process.
In practice, how diligent do we expect GPs to be when they’ve got a bit stack to sign off, and most of the time there’s no issue? If we’re all – especially the elderly – rather overmedicated as a result, that would be no great surprise.
Ben Goldacre has been doing a lot of work on the quality of GP prescribing. You can look up your own GP practice and see how they’re doing: https://openprescribing.net
@ rhoda klapp
My GP’s surgery has a system whereby one of the secretaries handles repeat prescriptions with very rare reference to the prescribing GP (on some basis but I know not what) to re-authorise them. They have set up a new system whereby I should be able to order a repeat on-line but that didn’t work when I tried it so I have reverted to paper requests dropped in the surgery letterbox which does work.
OTC medicines are those that don’t need a prescription. We do not want to make most prescription drugs OTC.
Given I just got grilled by the pharmacist when my GP switched my prescription why not offload the routine repeat stuff to the pharmacy and only have you referred to a GP under certain circumstances
It would be great if their pay depended on how many satisfied customers they saw and not on how happy they made government bureaucrats.
From overworked and underpaid to overpaid and underworked.
And the arrogance is breathtaking.