GP service, lazy bastards

[woohoo]

Move to a proper postcode for better service.

Thanks for your suggestion, but a proper country may be better advice. TBH I actually like this country, lots going for it.

[Troll]

Why not just get a new non dumbo eared wife?

Found it hard enough getting this one and in all respects apart from her ear she is bloody brilliant. She is a 5ft blonde full of evil menace.

At the very least you should quit using the ears as grab handles during BJ's

[woohoo]

At the very least you should quit using the ears as grab handles during BJ's

Why should I? It's not my ears that are hurting

[VectraMan]

Took them two weeks to speak to us, anyway the letter we received today didn't addresses any of the complaints and I can't see how they can improve their service if they don't acknowledge the problems.

It's surprised me with my recent NHS experiences that there isn't any follow up. I do a council run french evening class, and with this being the council they constantly get us to fill out forms to rate them, the teacher, and most of all whether you feel like your sexual orientation and/or disability issues are treated with respect. But with the NHS they never ask if you're satisfied that having waited 3 months to see a specialist, you then have to wait another 3 months for the test/scan they ordered, and another 3 months to see the specialist again to find out if you're going to live. Everybody just accepts the crapness and mindless inefficiency of it all.

[d000hg]

That's just the problem. NHS is crap, no-one cares and you're frowned on if you complain because its the "good old nhs".

I don't think it's crap, it's just imperfect.

Move to a proper postcode for better service.

You think having a malformed postcode is the problem?

[doodab]

Everybody just accepts the crapness and mindless inefficiency of it all.

While I agree that it's crap I can't agree that it's "mindlessly inefficient". In fact it's because it's efficient that it's crap for the end user.

Being able to see people the next day or next week would require an excess of capacity in the system to keep appointments free. That excess capacity has been systematically eliminated to lower costs and improve "efficiency". So the "crapness" of the service is largely a result of mindless efficiency drives applied
without thought for the consequences.

I do think there is scope for improvement with computerisation of the whole process, at the moment a lot of stuff is in the dark ages when going from GP to hospital or between hospitals or trusts, but in general it seems "efficiency" is a euphemism for freeze the budget and let the chips fall where they may. There seems to be little scope or appetite for actual investment in innovation to improve the process.

[scooterscot]

I don't think it's crap, it's just imperfect.

You think having a malformed postcode is the problem?

Back in the day when I roamed these lands I certainly experienced a varying degree of quality.

[scooterscot]

While I agree that it's crap I can't agree that it's "mindlessly inefficient". In fact it's because it's efficient that it's crap for the end user.

Being able to see people the next day or next week would require an excess of capacity in the system to keep appointments free. That excess capacity has been systematically eliminated to lower costs and improve "efficiency". So the "crapness" of the service is largely a result of mindless efficiency drives applied
without thought for the consequences.

I do think there is scope for improvement with computerisation of the whole process, at the moment a lot of stuff is in the dark ages when going from GP to hospital or between hospitals or trusts, but in general it seems "efficiency" is a euphemism for freeze the budget and let the chips fall where they may. There seems to be little scope or appetite for actual investment in innovation to improve the process.

Talk to a joiner about a problem and it can be fixed with a hammer. Talk to the IT man, more computers are the answer.

If scooter were in charge he'd sack all the bureaucrats / managers and use that money to spend on much need equipment / facilities instead.

[woohoo]

While I agree that it's crap I can't agree that it's "mindlessly inefficient". In fact it's because it's efficient that it's crap for the end user.

.

It's inefficient if the goal is to keep people healthy.

[doodab]

If scooter were in charge he'd sack all the bureaucrats / managers and use that money to spend on much need equipment / facilities instead.

You have no idea how it actually works though.

Equipment is useless without people to use it, so you need to look at the nurse / patient and doctor / patient ratio. You also need to look at the handover between organisations (because there are a LOT of them involved, the NHS isn't monolithic) and it's almost entirely based on writing letters. For a GP to book an appointment for a scan or to see a consultant takes ages because that's how long sending all the letters and faxes takes. In the hospital I was in it usually happens on the same day or day after, or as soon as medically practical, because they have direct access to the booking systems that the GP doesn't.

For my GP the only gateway to accelerate the process was to refer me to an "acute admissions unit" which is kind of like an A&E department that takes referrals from GPs and consultants that are considered likely to need admission.