Most GPs now work three days or less a week, according to Government research which shows the rise of the long weekend.
It’s a majority female profession. So, there are an awful lot working part time hours. Which, well, OK. Except it costs the same quarter million to train the part timers as it does the full. And then we’ve got the failure of the government planners to change the number of training places to account for this……
Partly also the NHS pension tax issues, no? The government have really shot themselves in the foot with that one.
You’re making me think of my dear niece, a doctor, who’s now looking after cute young Robbie.
I naturally whole-heartedly approve of him getting all her tender loving care. But since we don’t import slaves —– oops servants wholesale from the back blocks these days, this is just the way it goes.
Since they refuse to see patients, why are they getting paid at all?
If GPs are private contractors, why do they get an NHS pension?
Tommo, because they pay into the NHS system?
Rather hoping I get my (rather small) NHS pension, including the bits I paid in while not an NHS employee.
“If GPs are private contractors, why do they get an NHS pension?”
GPs have had access to the NHS Pension Scheme since 1948. So the blame falls to Nye Stalin.
And rising. As the mostly male generation retires, the percentage of women is increasing.
“Last month NHS officials promised to boost provision of Saturday appointments, promising that every area should have a surgery open all day by October.”
How fucking dense are these people. More hours on a Saturday don’t come for free.
Here’s what I would do: charge £10 appointment fees for anyone not on benefits. If you’re a pensioner and not struggling, you also pay £10. GP surgeries are stuffed with lonely old women complaining about their back, that GPs see constantly and can do nothing for. If they had to pay £10, they’d go and sit in a cafe and tell some waitress about their back problems. Because it’s free, they go and see a GP instead.
Make them pay the full cost of their training (via loans that are not defaultable). Increase their pay when qualified so that a full-timer can repay the loans over the desired period 15-20 years. If they can’t work sufficiently to pay back the loan (and interest) we can take their house. If they don’t like it they can become primary school teachers.
This will be regarded as sexist/illegal as it will impact women disproportionately.
As well as that, I’d pay GPs by the number of in-person consultations performed, not the size of their list.
I repeat, again, that I don’t want to pay ten quid or any other sum for the demoralising dismal experience of sitting in that shitty waiting room with yucky sick people reading the 47 (yes, I counted them) nagging posters.
I repeat, again, that I don’t want to pay ten quid or any other sum for the demoralising dismal experience of sitting in that shitty waiting room with yucky sick people reading the 47 (yes, I counted them) nagging posters.
But that’s a vital part of the process.
It plants the seed of low expectations. So then when you finally get to see the truculent, incompetent GP, who is determined just to get you out of the room without doing anything for you other than recommending a couple of paracetamol and come back in two weeks, you won’t complain that they sit there googling your symptoms to see what the problem is.
“More hours on a Saturday don’t come for free”
They might. If patients want more service on Saturday, you can reduce service on other days until it saves the expense of Saturdays. GPs might even prefer this as it provides more flexibility in working hours.
@I sneeze in threes
All loans are defaultible – you just have to die before you earn enough to pay them off. And those who cannot afford to pay off the loans will not have houses to seize as they’ll be too poor to get mortgages.
Charles, the dr will be buying a house, if they die the loan will have first call on the estate