Reforms needed to revitalise GP services
24 March 2023
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In the Media
Matthew Lesh writes in City AM
23 March 2023
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Julian Jessop quoted in The Express and The Independent
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Lifestyle Economics
15 November 2024
Sam Collins writes in The Telegraph
IEA Senior Policy Advisor Sam Collins has written in The Daily Telegraph discussing the NHS GP crisis.
Sam wrote:
“Earlier this week, we learned that eye patients were going blind because of backlog delays. And a Health Foundation study released today appears to show that, once again, the NHS is close to breakdown – this time in the family doctor and General Practitioner sector… Across ten high income countries, UK patients were the least likely to get face-to-face appointments.
“Changing technology and improved access to it could allow GPs to quickly carry out a larger number of brief phone appointments for cases considered lower risk. There is no objectively perfect length of GP appointment, and it could be the case that our, and Germany’s, average length of 10 minutes is an indication of efficiency rather than failure when compared to Sweden’s 25 minutes.
“Aneurin Bevan once said that he was able to convince family doctors to support the creation of the NHS because he “stuffed their mouths with gold”. Today, the issue is less one of money, and more one of ending the bureaucratic roadblocks to letting GPs just get on with treating patients. But it’s more likely politicians will choose instead to pay lip service to this latest report and allow the crumbling of the failed GP model to continue.”
Sam’s full piece can be read here.
Sam wrote:
“Earlier this week, we learned that eye patients were going blind because of backlog delays. And a Health Foundation study released today appears to show that, once again, the NHS is close to breakdown – this time in the family doctor and General Practitioner sector… Across ten high income countries, UK patients were the least likely to get face-to-face appointments.
“Changing technology and improved access to it could allow GPs to quickly carry out a larger number of brief phone appointments for cases considered lower risk. There is no objectively perfect length of GP appointment, and it could be the case that our, and Germany’s, average length of 10 minutes is an indication of efficiency rather than failure when compared to Sweden’s 25 minutes.
“Aneurin Bevan once said that he was able to convince family doctors to support the creation of the NHS because he “stuffed their mouths with gold”. Today, the issue is less one of money, and more one of ending the bureaucratic roadblocks to letting GPs just get on with treating patients. But it’s more likely politicians will choose instead to pay lip service to this latest report and allow the crumbling of the failed GP model to continue.”
Sam’s full piece can be read here.
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