How did you feel about the incoming prime minister’s pledge in his very first speech outside Downing St?
“My job is to make sure you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP”
Every PM I can remember from Blair to now Johnson has said as much, and what have they done?
– the 48 hour target
– the contract giveaway of 2004
– the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund
– the Vanguards
– training 5,000 extra GPs
– the GP Forward View
– recruiting 2,000 foreign GPs
– the online consultation fund
I’ve probably missed a few, do fill in the gaps.
Every PM has watched waiting times increase and continuity of care fall. I’m picturing the ships they launched now a line of rotting hulks…
Nothing wrong with the ambition, what’s missing is method. METHOD, how, based on evidence, are they going to do it?
Practices we help measure their patient service in minutes not weeks, and with a choice of named GP, and in fewer GP hours. They’ve got there quickly and at low cost.
On Wednesday I met another practice in Lincolnshire for their Pathfinder diagnostic, they decided to go ahead on the spot and in three weeks time, they will prove it all over again.
We have found over the years that it’s best to ignore the fads, fashions (and indeed the funding streams), and pursue relentlessly what works.
Our approach doesn’t win friends in high places, so I’m not going to sit by the phone. Perhaps some of our happy GPs would get in touch with the PM, give him one less thing to worry about.
New PM, new pledge on GP waits
How did you feel about the incoming prime minister’s pledge in his very first speech outside Downing St?
“My job is to make sure you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP”
Every PM I can remember from Blair to now Johnson has said as much, and what have they done?
– the 48 hour target
– the contract giveaway of 2004
– the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund
– the Vanguards
– training 5,000 extra GPs
– the GP Forward View
– recruiting 2,000 foreign GPs
– the online consultation fund
I’ve probably missed a few, do fill in the gaps.
Every PM has watched waiting times increase and continuity of care fall. I’m picturing the ships they launched now a line of rotting hulks…
Nothing wrong with the ambition, what’s missing is method. METHOD, how, based on evidence, are they going to do it?
Practices we help measure their patient service in minutes not weeks, and with a choice of named GP, and in fewer GP hours. They’ve got there quickly and at low cost.
On Wednesday I met another practice in Lincolnshire for their Pathfinder diagnostic, they decided to go ahead on the spot and in three weeks time, they will prove it all over again.
We have found over the years that it’s best to ignore the fads, fashions (and indeed the funding streams), and pursue relentlessly what works.
Our approach doesn’t win friends in high places, so I’m not going to sit by the phone. Perhaps some of our happy GPs would get in touch with the PM, give him one less thing to worry about.
Harry Longman
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