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| Daily Mail reporter |
I'm talking about a seedy online publication.
Yes, the Daily Mail.
Apparently, in an article littered with carefully chosen statistics, people are dying 3 and half years earlier than elsewhere, and its ALL MY FAULT.
Written to co-incide with the Government's evidence for the Review Body (who decide on doctors' and dentists' pay) - or maybe that is just a coincidence that they both appear on the same day - the article is usual collection of rant, half-baked statistics, ill-informed opinion and plain nastiness. In short, a typical Daily Mail article.
So if my pay was halved and we bought more scanners, then everything would be fine.
I'm so sorry I'm killing people and it's all my fault.
8 comments:
It's OK JD soon it will be the Council's fault:)
Don't worry. As soon as Cameron's Big Society gets going properly, it'll be everyone's fault*. A problem shared and all that.
* Except the Government's
Pah! I nearly choked on my caviar when I read that!
Chin up, JD. At least the reader comments are mostly supportive of us. Must look into getting a "cancer scanner", whatever that is?
Forgot to add, I think it's a bit off comparing a Daily Mail hack to a slavering bloodthirsty wild dog. What's the poor doggy ever done to you to be denegrated in such a way? :P
Like it or not, the DM have a point.
There are higher numbers of GPs per capita in European countries. European GPs get paid far less on average.
Do the maths.
There are higher numbers of GPs per capita in European countries. European GPs get paid far less on average.
Do the maths.
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You mean few doctors in the UK do the work of more doctors elsewhere. Then it's fairer that they get paid more, no?
Additionally, it's a false comparison. The skillset of a UK GP is very different (wider) than the european counterparts. In some areas things like smears and even pill checks get performed by the gynaecologists.
You mean few doctors in the UK do the work of more doctors elsewhere. Then it's fairer that they get paid more, no?
Additionally, it's a false comparison. The skillset of a UK GP is very different (wider) than the european counterparts. In some areas things like smears and even pill checks get performed by the gynaecologists.
In the UK, the majority of smears get done by practice nurses. Most 'extra' services (eg. disease monitoring clinics) in the UK get done by practice nurses while GPs claim the credit/QOF bonuses.
In the UK, GPs get a cushy 8-6.30 working day, having given up any responsibility for their patients after hours.
In Europe, GPs still do their own on call and work day and night for their patients. European doctors are also happy to visit people at home.
European GPs work harder for less pay and European patients benefit from a better healthcare service as evidenced by plenty of outcome measurements.
So I'm not sure how you come up wtih the idea that fewer GPs in the UK do more work.
Perhaps UK GPs spend more patient time on meeting pointless government QOF targets to boost their incomes but this doesn't equate to better care for patients.
You'll note the large number of EU doctors flying over to the UK to take advantage of the cushy hours and the inflated rates of pay. Strangely you don't see many UK GPs heading out to Europe.
Smears and CDM are done in primary care, as opposed to secondary care. Who and when the smears are done varies across the country - in some areas it is done by practice nurses, in others it is not. That's not the point - it's done in primary care as opposed to secondary care - and is the responsibility of GPs. The skillset IS wider and thus not directly comparable.
If there are fewer GPs then yes, they are doing more. It's no doubt much easier to deliver this care when CDM and smears etc are delivered by "specialists".
GPs in other countries "happy" to visit? Happy when they are paid...
The influx of doctors from EU is much more complex than your simplistic analysis. There are language barriers for UK doctors working abroad (english is still a universal language) and given the *actual* number of hours worked by GPs there is simply not enough time to do this. Additionally, most OOH here is still covered by local GPs and the quality of foreign GPs and the dangers of this is well documented in recent times.
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