Ambulance service
The Herald article on the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) failing to meet its 999 targets stated that in England the service was meeting its eight-minute target 19% more of the time than in Scotland and then suggested GP working hours were to blame (December 14). I wish to point out that GP hours of responsibility are the same in both countries. Therefore one should conclude that there are other reasons why the Scottish results are significantly worse. Instead of blaming GPs, we should consider if the SAS is optimising its resources and (importantly) if the SAS is appropriately resourced to cover Scotland's rural areas.
Furthermore, the out-of-hours period has been the responsibility of health boards since 2004, so it is reasonable to consider if the current health board/NHS 24 services are adequate to cope with demand to avoid patients using SAS/A&E when a community-based response would be more appropriate.
Dr Andrew Buist, Joint Deputy Chairman SGPC, BMA Scotland, 14 Queen Street, Edinburgh.
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Posted by: auchnacree on 8:47am Tue 18 Dec 07
Aye Dr Buist yer right again a'bodys oot o step bar the doctors!
When will you get the message that your constant protestations are nothing more than just that. GPs wholesale withdrawl from "out of hours" was good for the GPs but not for the patients and your complicity in the policy and speed of taking the "shilling" belies your constant bleating about your lot. If the reports are correct about six figure salaries and significantly improved conditions and a desire to have the same working conditions as a plumber then you must really "get a grip" and appreciate the staggeringly privileged employment life that you have.
For many of us to be a doctor, giving help and assisatnce to people at times of desperate crisis would be a privilege
Its no wonder that the public's respect for your profession is waning.
Aye Dr Buist yer right again a'bodys oot o step bar the doctors!
When will you get the message that your constant protestations are nothing more than just that. GPs wholesale withdrawl from "out of hours" was good for the GPs but not for the patients and your complicity in the policy and speed of taking the "shilling" belies your constant bleating about your lot. If the reports are correct about six figure salaries and significantly improved conditions and a desire to have the same working conditions as a plumber then you must really "get a grip" and appreciate the staggeringly privileged employment life that you have.
For many of us to be a doctor, giving help and assisatnce to people at times of desperate crisis would be a privilege
Its no wonder that the public's respect for your profession is waning.
Posted by: Robb, Scotland on 9:05am Tue 18 Dec 07
Neither GPs nor the ambulance service can deliver the support needed in life-threatening medical emergencies. The only people who can really help in the vital few minutes when attention can save life or at least reduce the risk of severe disablement, are trained volunteer Community First Responders equipped with AEDs and Oxygen and some First Aid knowledge. The NHS and the BMA seem so obsessed with targets and hours of work that this obvious fact seems to have escaped them.
So get real - andt get together and help set up a CFR team in every community. Both the ambulance service and the GP scan get behind this and really give it a push, by educating their communities and providing equipment and training.
Neither GPs nor the ambulance service can deliver the support needed in life-threatening medical emergencies. The only people who can really help in the vital few minutes when attention can save life or at least reduce the risk of severe disablement, are trained volunteer Community First Responders equipped with AEDs and Oxygen and some First Aid knowledge. The NHS and the BMA seem so obsessed with targets and hours of work that this obvious fact seems to have escaped them.
So get real - andt get together and help set up a CFR team in every community. Both the ambulance service and the GP scan get behind this and really give it a push, by educating their communities and providing equipment and training.
Posted by: Joe Glasgow, Glasgow on 11:48am Tue 18 Dec 07
dont let the facts get in the way of you prejudices
the GP contract was reward for increasing productivity and taking on hospital work
our staggeringly priviledged employment comes from years of hard study and in my day working 90 hours a week at overtime rates of 1/3 of normal hours
the average patients care costs 50 quid a year you couldnt get pet insurance for your dog that cheap so get real
dont let the facts get in the way of you prejudices
the GP contract was reward for increasing productivity and taking on hospital work
our staggeringly priviledged employment comes from years of hard study and in my day working 90 hours a week at overtime rates of 1/3 of normal hours
the average patients care costs 50 quid a year you couldnt get pet insurance for your dog that cheap so get real
Posted by: Jobbing GP, Tayside on 12:48pm Tue 18 Dec 07
Auchnacree, I find your ill informed comments disappointing. To quote 'If the reports are correct about six figure salaries and significantly improved conditions and a desire to have the same working conditions as a plumber then you must really "get a grip"' Well the reports, certainly in my neck of the woods are significantly exagerated and in fact the 6 figure average is England not Scotland. For my 60+ hours a week I get nowwhere near that, have had a pay cut 2 years in a row and still ensure my staff receive a pay rise. I used a plumber recently, he charged me £80 per hour, I can only hope for this kind of remuneration after 12 years training. I provide unlimited time and callouts for my patients at under £50 per year of funding. Out of which i have my practice and staff to pay. Please read the facts before posting such ill informed comments.
Despite all the government throws at me I will always be a GP because as suggested it is a vocation that I love.
Auchnacree, I find your ill informed comments disappointing. To quote 'If the reports are correct about six figure salaries and significantly improved conditions and a desire to have the same working conditions as a plumber then you must really "get a grip"' Well the reports, certainly in my neck of the woods are significantly exagerated and in fact the 6 figure average is England not Scotland. For my 60+ hours a week I get nowwhere near that, have had a pay cut 2 years in a row and still ensure my staff receive a pay rise. I used a plumber recently, he charged me £80 per hour, I can only hope for this kind of remuneration after 12 years training. I provide unlimited time and callouts for my patients at under £50 per year of funding. Out of which i have my practice and staff to pay. Please read the facts before posting such ill informed comments.
Despite all the government throws at me I will always be a GP because as suggested it is a vocation that I love.
Posted by: auchnacree, Tayside on 4:14pm Tue 18 Dec 07
Jobbing GP you seem to confirm my argument. If my facts are wrong about salary in your particular case can you confirm that my facts are wrong in the nmajority of cases
I am pleased that you believe in vocation but it is the case that you and your colleagues fairly regularly express views such as in the case of the plumber who will not or should not be receiving a salary of £80 an hour unless his circumstances are exceptional and its this "smart" approach to your own circumstances by putting down others that is detracting from the community's respect for GPs.
As far as this quote is concerned ' the doctor wishing to be treated like plumbers etc " I merely repeat a quote heard from a radio 4 news broadcast by a mediacl practitioner justifying why doctors withdrew form "on call " arrangements.
And what if the plumber does charge £80 it is because he can and if you could do his job you would but you can't.
Thats the rub you see medical practitioners protesting as you have done usually by smear and put down. to justify their own case and disputing information gleaned from the poular press...my facts are correct the problem is you and your ilk don't want to hear them because you think that some how your better than the plumber. Value to a community is not measured in inputs ( the hours or the training) its measured in outputs( what you achieve) and it is the case that increasing numbers of your patient community feel dissatisfied about how you organise your affairs to meet their care requirements. It regrettably feels too often to meet the needs or desires of the GPs and not the patient.
Jobbing GP you seem to confirm my argument. If my facts are wrong about salary in your particular case can you confirm that my facts are wrong in the nmajority of cases
I am pleased that you believe in vocation but it is the case that you and your colleagues fairly regularly express views such as in the case of the plumber who will not or should not be receiving a salary of £80 an hour unless his circumstances are exceptional and its this "smart" approach to your own circumstances by putting down others that is detracting from the community's respect for GPs.
As far as this quote is concerned ' the doctor wishing to be treated like plumbers etc " I merely repeat a quote heard from a radio 4 news broadcast by a mediacl practitioner justifying why doctors withdrew form "on call " arrangements.
And what if the plumber does charge £80 it is because he can and if you could do his job you would but you can't.
Thats the rub you see medical practitioners protesting as you have done usually by smear and put down. to justify their own case and disputing information gleaned from the poular press...my facts are correct the problem is you and your ilk don't want to hear them because you think that some how your better than the plumber. Value to a community is not measured in inputs ( the hours or the training) its measured in outputs( what you achieve) and it is the case that increasing numbers of your patient community feel dissatisfied about how you organise your affairs to meet their care requirements. It regrettably feels too often to meet the needs or desires of the GPs and not the patient.
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