My daughter was discharged from Hospital on this bank holiday Monday. On discharge the doctor gave her a prescription for a certain painkiller, which replaces 3 of the ones she was taking, and was told to go to her GP for repeat prescriptions.
She rang docs Tuesday to be told she would need to see a doctor to have it prescribed. “ Ok, could I have an appointment please” “ All appointments are gone, try again tomorrow “ Rinse repeat, weekend upcoming, she runs out tomorrow.
She went into docs to explain to receptionist. “ Nothing I can do, perhaps ring 111 or go to A and E”.
You would have thought someone would just decide that, well she needs an appointment, we have used our allocation for today, let's open up tomorrows, or the day afters and book her in then. This will save people from continually ringing and, importantly, save a member of staff from continually having to answer calls with the same, 'we have no appointments', bs.
I have a client who is a retired GP, he retired 3-4 years ago, he was a great GP and worked **** hard for 35 years. He recruited a number of younger GPs to come into his practice when he retired. I asked him how the practice was doing without him the other day. His response? 'The new GPs mostly work part time (full time GPs earn an average of £110,000 per annum so 3 days a week for £70,000 ish isn't too shabby is it?) They don't work evenings, or weekends and rarely do house calls. They just want an easy life.'
This client also warned senior NHS Management 10 years ago (maybe more, I forget when they actually changed it) that the changes they were bringing in for GPs would mean they would end up paying GPs a fortune and GPs services would also suffer as a result, he was right.
@tomgoodun I hope your daughter gets to see someone and gets her meds sorted asap.
Maybe lodge a complaint with the senior GP at the practice, they will hopefully pay attention then.
It's really easy for retired doctors to sit on their (much better than my) pension and criticise those of us still trying to do our best with 15 years of Tory underfunding, more poor (or otherwise needy) people than ever and more chronically ill people than ever. It's called "pulling the ladder up after you" and Boomers seem to excel at it.
I'm not defending the state of the NHS: as one who has worked in it for >20 years I agree it is atrocious. And FUBAR.
However, statements like "70k for 3 day week" are just plain wrong. Most GPs are working 12, 13, 14 hours on those 3 days, then doing their admin on unpaid days. That would be a full time job for most people, including nurses. Working 5 days a week at the current intensity is frankly incompatible with life.
Dear Tom I am so sorry to read all this - my heart goes out to you. If there's anything I can do to help give me a shout.
@RogueCell that 15 years of underfunding has still lead to GPs, consultants and, what's worse, numerous layers of NHS management, getting paid far more than they were, and when you add on the wonderful NHS pension scheme, they don't do too badly (yes even allowing for it being career average earnings rather than final salary now). Nurses and other frontline staff, by comparison, are probably underpaid, I agree. I think it is more that the NHS funding has gone to the wrong places rather than just underfunding.
The fact that Tom's daughter can't get an urgently needed repeat prescription, and that no one seems to care, is very sad.
The quote I gave was virtually a direct quote from a retired GP by the way, maybe his practice is different to others, I don't know. I do know that most people seem unhappy with their GP services. I am not by the way, my GP is extremely good, maybe I'm lucky.
I think maybe he was comparing it to his working life when he probably worked 12,13 14 hours a day, for 5 days a week.
By the way he went back to work during the pandemic, helping out with the vaccine roll out to staff in the local hospital, not sitting on his fat pension.
I would agree that the demands on the NHS are far more than they have ever been, an ever increasing population with people that often don't help themselves in this regard. Smoking, over eating, over drinking, drug use, little or no exercise, no idea about a healthy diet etc etc. Certainly this Government, and all previous ones, has failed woefully in getting the public to look after themselves better.
I agree there is no encouragement whatsoever for people to take personal responsibility. People on free scripts will use a GP appointment to get a bottle of calpol for their child. That is just ludicrous.
There is no comparison between the intensity of work in the NHS now to when I qualified 20y ago. At that time the treatment for a stroke, was tuck them up in bed, give aspirin and get the physios in the morning. The breadth and complexity of possible medical interventions has changed out of sight.
It's possible to work long hours when most of those hours do not involve high intensity and relentless high-stakes decision-making, as was the case back in the day.
Doctors pay has NOT been increasing. It's about 30% down in real terms on when I qualified. Have you forgotten 10 years of austerity in which the entire NHS received sub-inflationary 1% annual pay increment. Yep, frontline staff paid in real terms so we could bail out the gambly banks who STILL paid bonuses to their execs even once in public ownership. I've never seen a bonus. You are just absolutely wrong on this I'm afraid.
I'm burnt out, but this GP actually took her own life, very violently. Working in the NHS often feels like being in an abusive relationship. And what you get for doing your best with little to work with is the blame, the sleepless nights of worry, the complaints and the constant hounding by right wing press that we're all lazy and overpaid. You couldn't make it up really.
Update. The doctor rang , he prescribed the medication which my daughter picked up this afternoon.
I took her to pick gorgeous grandson up from school , he was delighted to see her and said “ Mummy you look beautiful today” ( Dear daughter had messaged me earlier saying she’s going to put make-up on for the first time in months)
Thanks for the kind words Paul. @Enut Appreciate the kind words and offer of help Clare, @RogueCell hope you are keeping well.
It's really easy for retired doctors to sit on their (much better than my) pension and criticise those of us still trying to do our best with 15 years of Tory underfunding, more poor (or otherwise needy) people than ever and more chronically ill people than ever. It's called "pulling the ladder up after you" and Boomers seem to excel at it.
I'm not defending the state of the NHS: as one who has worked in it for >20 years I agree it is atrocious. And FUBAR.
However, statements like "70k for 3 day week" are just plain wrong. Most GPs are working 12, 13, 14 hours on those 3 days, then doing their admin on unpaid days. That would be a full time job for most people, including nurses. Working 5 days a week at the current intensity is frankly incompatible with life.
Dear Tom I am so sorry to read all this - my heart goes out to you. If there's anything I can do to help give me a shout.
I was inaccurate: IT IS A FULL TIME JOB. Remember that NHS staff are not indentured slaves, and nor are we in the military. If we choose to keep our working lives under 60 hours/week, then that is our choice to make. This pressure to work 80 hours/week has never applied to nurses and is in fact a hangover of the toxic masculinity culture that was so pervasive when I was training.
@RogueCell I think we agree on a lot of things and certainly the pressure on GPs is more than it has ever been (sadly the article you linked to will not allow me accesss unless I agree to accept information from one of three pharma companies!) A system where GP's pay is related to the number of patients they have and the services they offer to those patients is always going to generate problems with overworking, as my client had argued some years ago, when they introduced the system.
I have no problem with GPs working 'part time' (and I appreciate that part time may well involve doing more hours than a full time 'normal' employee), sadly I still think the NHS does not have enough front line staff to cope with demand, maybe too many middle management and not enough front line? It's a tough problem to solve and certainly would be helped by allowing more suitably qualified people into the country.
Many GPs and consultants have retired in the last 5 years and who can blame them? Pressure of work and also the pension scheme and associated tax penalties that were a disincentive from doing overtime, or even continuing to work, were also a major factor.
My experience of clients working in the NHS is that their salaries certainly have outstripped inflation over the years, however that may well be due to them going up pay scales as well as pay increases. They have certainly done better than some clients I have in the private sector, who have often been even more hard done by.
I think we can all agree that the banks are the lowest of the low and the Government's bailout of the banks (lets just give them money) failed in many ways.
Have a good evening, I'm going to fix myself some food and have a well earned glass of wine!
Update. The doctor rang , he prescribed the medication which my daughter picked up this afternoon.
I took her to pick gorgeous grandson up from school , he was delighted to see her and said “ Mummy you look beautiful today” ( Dear daughter had messaged me earlier saying she’s going to put make-up on for the first time in months)
Thanks for the kind words Paul. @Enut Appreciate the kind words and offer of help Clare, @RogueCell hope you are keeping well.
@tomgoodun that really made me smile, I'm sure your daughter did too. I hope you all have a great weekend.
We do indeed agree on a lot, and I thank you for a balanced response. But don't confuse working with NHS clients and paying attention to them to understanding what it's like within.
I qualified with 75k of student debt. Despite good salary I couldn't afford a home till I was 36. We don't get THAT great a deal.
Enjoy your wine, I've got Day 2 Goliath tomorrow, so probably ought to try to get to bed at a reasonable hour for the first time this week!
@RogueCell been nice chatting with you and you are right, I only get second hand views on what working in the NHS is like and normally that's when the clients have had a chance to wind down after work.
I was very lucky, as were many of my older clients, in that we went to university when there were still grants available. I still left with a £12K overdraft 35 years ago, but that was more down to the draw of the student bar than any tuition fees! I also left with a biology degree, that I haven't used since!
I deal with clients of many ages, current range is age 18 to 94, so quite a spread! Many of the younger ones are the children of the clients I have dealt with for 30+ years. I recently gave some investment advice to a 21 year old, I had also arranged a savings plan for her with her parents when she was born! That made me feel quite old.
Good luck with Day 2 Goliath tomorrow, what's the top prize £100K ish, now that's not a bad pay day!
Comments
I have a client who is a retired GP, he retired 3-4 years ago, he was a great GP and worked **** hard for 35 years. He recruited a number of younger GPs to come into his practice when he retired. I asked him how the practice was doing without him the other day. His response? 'The new GPs mostly work part time (full time GPs earn an average of £110,000 per annum so 3 days a week for £70,000 ish isn't too shabby is it?) They don't work evenings, or weekends and rarely do house calls. They just want an easy life.'
This client also warned senior NHS Management 10 years ago (maybe more, I forget when they actually changed it) that the changes they were bringing in for GPs would mean they would end up paying GPs a fortune and GPs services would also suffer as a result, he was right.
@tomgoodun I hope your daughter gets to see someone and gets her meds sorted asap.
Maybe lodge a complaint with the senior GP at the practice, they will hopefully pay attention then.
It's really easy for retired doctors to sit on their (much better than my) pension and criticise those of us still trying to do our best with 15 years of Tory underfunding, more poor (or otherwise needy) people than ever and more chronically ill people than ever. It's called "pulling the ladder up after you" and Boomers seem to excel at it.
I'm not defending the state of the NHS: as one who has worked in it for >20 years I agree it is atrocious. And FUBAR.
However, statements like "70k for 3 day week" are just plain wrong. Most GPs are working 12, 13, 14 hours on those 3 days, then doing their admin on unpaid days. That would be a full time job for most people, including nurses. Working 5 days a week at the current intensity is frankly incompatible with life.
Dear Tom
I am so sorry to read all this - my heart goes out to you. If there's anything I can do to help give me a shout.
The fact that Tom's daughter can't get an urgently needed repeat prescription, and that no one seems to care, is very sad.
The quote I gave was virtually a direct quote from a retired GP by the way, maybe his practice is different to others, I don't know. I do know that most people seem unhappy with their GP services. I am not by the way, my GP is extremely good, maybe I'm lucky.
I think maybe he was comparing it to his working life when he probably worked 12,13 14 hours a day, for 5 days a week.
By the way he went back to work during the pandemic, helping out with the vaccine roll out to staff in the local hospital, not sitting on his fat pension.
I would agree that the demands on the NHS are far more than they have ever been, an ever increasing population with people that often don't help themselves in this regard. Smoking, over eating, over drinking, drug use, little or no exercise, no idea about a healthy diet etc etc. Certainly this Government, and all previous ones, has failed woefully in getting the public to look after themselves better.
There is no comparison between the intensity of work in the NHS now to when I qualified 20y ago. At that time the treatment for a stroke, was tuck them up in bed, give aspirin and get the physios in the morning. The breadth and complexity of possible medical interventions has changed out of sight.
It's possible to work long hours when most of those hours do not involve high intensity and relentless high-stakes decision-making, as was the case back in the day.
Doctors pay has NOT been increasing. It's about 30% down in real terms on when I qualified. Have you forgotten 10 years of austerity in which the entire NHS received sub-inflationary 1% annual pay increment. Yep, frontline staff paid in real terms so we could bail out the gambly banks who STILL paid bonuses to their execs even once in public ownership. I've never seen a bonus. You are just absolutely wrong on this I'm afraid.
I'm burnt out, but this GP actually took her own life, very violently. Working in the NHS often feels like being in an abusive relationship. And what you get for doing your best with little to work with is the blame, the sleepless nights of worry, the complaints and the constant hounding by right wing press that we're all lazy and overpaid. You couldn't make it up really.
The doctor rang , he prescribed the medication which my daughter picked up this afternoon.
I took her to pick gorgeous grandson up from school , he was delighted to see her and said “ Mummy you look beautiful today” ( Dear daughter had messaged me earlier saying she’s going to put make-up on for the first time in months)
Thanks for the kind words Paul. @Enut
Appreciate the kind words and offer of help Clare, @RogueCell hope you are keeping well.
I have no problem with GPs working 'part time' (and I appreciate that part time may well involve doing more hours than a full time 'normal' employee), sadly I still think the NHS does not have enough front line staff to cope with demand, maybe too many middle management and not enough front line? It's a tough problem to solve and certainly would be helped by allowing more suitably qualified people into the country.
Many GPs and consultants have retired in the last 5 years and who can blame them? Pressure of work and also the pension scheme and associated tax penalties that were a disincentive from doing overtime, or even continuing to work, were also a major factor.
My experience of clients working in the NHS is that their salaries certainly have outstripped inflation over the years, however that may well be due to them going up pay scales as well as pay increases. They have certainly done better than some clients I have in the private sector, who have often been even more hard done by.
I think we can all agree that the banks are the lowest of the low and the Government's bailout of the banks (lets just give them money) failed in many ways.
Have a good evening, I'm going to fix myself some food and have a well earned glass of wine!
We do indeed agree on a lot, and I thank you for a balanced response. But don't confuse working with NHS clients and paying attention to them to understanding what it's like within.
I qualified with 75k of student debt. Despite good salary I couldn't afford a home till I was 36. We don't get THAT great a deal.
Enjoy your wine, I've got Day 2 Goliath tomorrow, so probably ought to try to get to bed at a reasonable hour for the first time this week!
All best
I was very lucky, as were many of my older clients, in that we went to university when there were still grants available. I still left with a £12K overdraft 35 years ago, but that was more down to the draw of the student bar than any tuition fees! I also left with a biology degree, that I haven't used since!
I deal with clients of many ages, current range is age 18 to 94, so quite a spread! Many of the younger ones are the children of the clients I have dealt with for 30+ years. I recently gave some investment advice to a 21 year old, I had also arranged a savings plan for her with her parents when she was born! That made me feel quite old.
Good luck with Day 2 Goliath tomorrow, what's the top prize £100K ish, now that's not a bad pay day!