My point was to the post that they should be getting more money, as doctors have the most important job in the world. When people say this it is unhelpful as clearly they are nothing without the multidiscipline teams around them.
TBH we should be doing more minor work at GP surgeries. Was in Spain they had a pharmacy, gp surgery, physios etc all on one site. It would also help to bring ultrasound, x-ray etc out and then reduce hospital load. Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
clearly they are nothing without the multidiscipline teams around them.
Indeed all those years of training and expertise gained is basically nothing.
What you said was stupid and to continue to justify it is just to continue being stupid
Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
Cleaner is to busy to do the scan.
TBH we should be doing more minor work at GP surgeries. Was in Spain they had a pharmacy, gp surgery, physios etc all on one site. It would also help to bring ultrasound, x-ray etc out and then reduce hospital load. Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
Here are some genuine reasons people have been to their GP -
“Can you settle a marital dispute? My wife thinks paracetamol is better, I think ibuprofen is. Who’s right?”
“I have sneezed twice in the last hour”
“I have a scratch on my arm” (tiny 2 millimetre scratch. No infection).
“My child has turned blue” -the child had blue dye on him from a duvet cover which had not yet been washed.
Two emergency appointments for a cold sore. The first to tell the patient the diagnosis, the second (later that morning) because the grandmother (a nurse) disagreed with the original diagnosis.
Out of hours prescription request for skin emollient (like a moisturiser).
Patient called 999 and attended A&E because they had broken a FALSE fingernail.
Man requesting a contraceptive pill
“My child smells like yeast….”
“My poo smells this morning and it doesn’t normally” with said excrement wrapped in tinfoil in a carrier bag.
Etc etc
My point was to the post that they should be getting more money, as doctors have the most important job in the world
Now is a good point to repeat that they are NOT striking for more money.
They are striking to stay on the same money they signed up for and, more importantly, to prevent the removal of the safeguards that currently protect them from working stupid hours.
Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
For the same reason that you can't get your electrician to also do the bricklaying, or get your lawyer to fix your car?
TBH we should be doing more minor work at GP surgeries. Was in Spain they had a pharmacy, gp surgery, physios etc all on one site. It would also help to bring ultrasound, x-ray etc out and then reduce hospital load. Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
Because he/she is a GP, not a pediatrician/gynocologist/midwife or whoever it is that does the scans (I don't have kids). Otherwise, what's the point in specialists.
And have you any idea how much imaging equipment costs? And then you'd need radiologist to operate it, and examine the images.
Last time I went to one of those provincial health care centers in spain they X-rayed me, gave me a big shot of morphine, put my broken arm in a slab, then had to call an ambulance to take me to the actual hospital as they couldn't do any more. Which actually made it far worse (by the time I got there the bones had dislocated as well). It was a waste of time (and money) and I'd have been better off dragging myself down to A&E, avoiding the complications and subsequent operation, probably avoiding breaking it twice again (the plate contributed to them).
There probably are some things GP's could do, but then we'd need more GP's, and a) that cost money, b) there's already a shortage of junior Dr's training to be GP's.
They are striking to stay on the same money they signed up for and, more importantly, to prevent the removal of the safeguards that currently protect them from working stupid hours.
FactCheck doesn't wholly agree
As far as we can see, no one will lose immediately because the government is offering “pay protection” for anyone who would potentially see their pay cut thanks to the changes.
[url= http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-junior-doctors-pay-cut/21890 ]FactCheck[/url]
Neither side is covering themselves in glory.
FactCheck doesn't wholly agree
From that same site -
"We should note though, that the promise to protect current pay only lasts until 2019, and we don’t know what will happen after that."
We can only speculate about what happens in 2019.
Yeah Jeremy Hunt's last minute letter tried to avoid the strike by offering a classic Prisoner's Dilemma that basically said: "Agree to this contract and we'll protect your pay and it'll only be the ones signing new contracts that suffer"
Three problems with that, apart from the general morality.
Firstly he only offers three years of protection. Secondly Junior Doctors rotate to different hospitals every six months, so they'd soon be required to sign new contracts anyway. Thirdly it does absolutely nothing to address the issue of the removal of financial safeguards that protect them from stupidly long hours.
FactCheck doesn't wholly check facts, it would appear. If I was purporting to offer a national "fact" service I'd do a bit more than briefly get the YTS lad to scan the websites of the 2 sidesFactCheck doesn't wholly agree
7 day NHS working is coming, whether or not it's actually a solution to anything. Many departments/disciplines are being railroaded into it; the docs are just lucky that they have a union with a bit of a backbone.
Neither side is covering themselves in glory.
Is that the best example of the BMA not covering themselves in glory that you could find?
Two emergency appointments for a cold sore.
As an aside, I once had an emergency appointment for a cold sore. Get one on your eye and it can permanently damage your vision. My GP immediately referred me to the eye hospital.
Get one on your eye and it can permanently damage your vision.
Oh god that sounds unpleasant...
Oh god that sounds unpleasant...
I should add that it turned out to be an infected scratch, which cleared up with antibiotic cream. My GP was concerned because I had a cold sore on my lip at the time.
From my initial phone call about it, I had a phone consultation, GP examination, referral to the eye hospital, diagnosis, prescription and back at work in 2 hours. God bless the NHS!
point to repeat that they are NOT striking for more money.
To be fair, it's easy to get the wrong idea. The headline on BBC radio 4 news at 6 yesterday was that doctors had voted to strike having rejected an 11% pay rise. They may as well get just5min to write the news for them.
Is that the best example of the BMA not covering themselves in glory that you could find?
I haven't really tried, I just happened to come across it so posted it here as it presents a more nuanced picture than either side presents. This is hardly surprising and is common in disputes. The sooner both sides sit down rather than wage war through the press the better. However they don't even seem to be able to agree on how to go about that. So I am pretty comfortable with my view that neither side is covering themselves in glory.
The sooner both sides sit down rather than wage war through the press the better. However they don't even seem to be able to agree on how to go about that. So I am pretty comfortable with my view that neither side is covering themselves in glory.
I've only got a bit of an overview into this but I'm pretty sure there's something like 23 points on the new contract and the government will not negotiate over 22 of them, something like that. I think the BMA ae happy to talk but they've not really been given the opportunity.
Funny how hearing some of the guys in the office grumbling about junior doctors pay. They'll be the same ones come Monday grumbling that their football team needs to be paying players more than £50K per week to attract better talent.
Those on here decrying doctors have obviously never needed them. I fully support their cause.
Just had lunch with junior doctor in genito urinary medicine
the closures of the already oversubscribed clinics across london sound like a really really bad idea, but sexual health is now the problem of local councils (responsibility for Public Health was transferred over to them earlier this year) and considering the cuts theyve had to make, her advice was basically dont have sex with anyone in the next few years, theres gonna be and STD explosion!
and get private health cover or your screwed anyway.
TBH we should be doing more minor work at GP surgeries. Was in Spain they had a pharmacy, gp surgery, physios etc all on one site.
Are you Jeremy Hunt?
This is exactly what JH wants to do, well this or break the NHS down in to bite sized parts that make it easier to sell of to the private sector. Google Vanguard to learn more.
Having an Ultrasound Machine in every GP practice with a trained radiographer is indeed a wonderful idea. However that would bankrupt the NHS overnight and financially makes no sense unless people are prepared to contribute much more to the NHS.
So far the feedback coming back from Vanguard is that care in the community is going to cost billions more (no shit Sherlock) + that patient feedback is that they do not want to attend a clinic or have an elective operation on a Sunday morning.
I've only got a bit of an overview into this but I'm pretty sure there's something like 23 points on the new contract and the government will not negotiate over 22 of them, something like that. I think the BMA ae happy to talk but they've not really been given the opportunity.
Which the government deny - [url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477537/hunt-malawana-nov.pdf ]Letter from Hunt to JD Chair[/url]
It is all claim and counter-claim and rather unedifying.
Well, not exactly. He repeats his threat to impose a contract if things don't turn out his way. What sort of negotiation is that?
What's really unedifying is Hunt misquoting statistics - basically lying - to support his position.
Well, not exactly. He repeats his threat to impose a contract if things don't turn out his way. What sort of negotiation is that?
A fairly normal one, he is setting out his red line.
That letter says : [i]"As you know many of recommendations will be welcomed by juniors"[/i] (true, and many of them won't be) [i]"It is not unreasonable after three years to need to move forward with the new contract without the threat of BMA veto." [/i] (so not actually up for negotiation then, despite what he says).
The BMA now want to get ACAS involved and Hunt is currently refusing that too.
To be fair, it's easy to get the wrong idea. The headline on BBC radio 4 news at 6 yesterday was that doctors had voted to strike having rejected an 11% pay rise.
Seems to me this is a very deliberate tactic. Steer the debate away from patient safety concerns, steer it towards money, publicise them rejecting the "11% pay offer" (without acknowledging that it is actually a pay cut), push the "greedy doctors want more money" line and leave it to the struggling Joe Public to be outraged that these filthy-rich doctors want more than 11% when the rest of us haven't had a pay rise in years.
A fairly normal one, he is setting out his red line.
Fair enough, looks like I'm moving to Scotland, abroad or even Wales 😯
Which doctors are going to be left working in the NHS in England?
Why won't they meet with him ?
Why won't they meet with him ?
The BMA has offered to go to independent arbitration. The government has refused.
A fairly normal one, he is setting out his red line.
FWIW i am prepared to discuss with my kids their bed time but my line in the sand is that it the time I decide based on evidence i already have ..I cannot be any fairer than that can I
Its not normal to offer a negotiation whilst saying you will impose it. Its not a negotiation is it it is just a discussion where they attempt to persuade you and will do it anyway if you continue ot disagree.
[quote=ransos said]
The BMA has offered to go to independent arbitration. The government has refused.
Yeah but why won't they meet with Hunt ? Wouldn't you do that first ?
Yeah but why won't they meet with Hunt ? Wouldn't you do that first ?
Sorry but this is nicked from another source.
[i]The junior doctors I spoke to believe a strike is unavoidable because Jeremy Hunt has not allowed room for negotiation. This is not a rash decision: the BMA and the government have been discussing the junior doctor contract since 2012, but no satisfactory progress has been made and there has been a lack of meaningful negotiation. The Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body, who are advising the government, have recommended 23 changes to the contract. However, the government have informed the BMA that 22 of these are “non negotiable”. The BMA has repeatedly said to the government that they would return to the negotiation table if there was more than one recommendation to negotiate.[/i]
Yeah but why won't they meet with Hunt ?
They will - with ACAS mediating. Clearly there is an issue of trust on both sides, so I can't see why the government is refusing, if they are serious about negotiations without pre-conditions.
Seems to me this is a very deliberate tactic. Steer the debate away from patient safety concerns, steer it towards money,
Sure - that is *unt's tactic, but why is the BBC using it as their only description of the dispute?
However, the government have informed the BMA that 22 of these are “non negotiable”.
And so the circle becomes complete.
And so the circle becomes complete.
Ah, you have had the light bulb moment where you now understand why doctors have been unhappy. Its not just about docs taking a pay cut, it is also about patient safety 💡
A fairly normal one, he is setting out his red line.
So they're not preconditions, they're just his red lines which he won't negotiate on? And that's ok?
[s]Which[/s] Witch doctors are going to be left working in the NHS in England
FTFY
dragon - MemberTBH we should be doing more minor work at GP surgeries. Was in Spain they had a pharmacy, gp surgery, physios etc all on one site. It would also help to bring ultrasound, x-ray etc out and then reduce hospital load. Why can't a pregnant mum get an ultrasound at her local gp?
It doesn't make sense to distribute everything but I got most of my physio for my busted hip in my local GP surgery. The GP surgery at my workplace has a pharmacy facility. No doubt it could happen more but it does happen.
But ultrasound and xray? Centralising gets the hardware and expertise where it's needed and where we get the most use out of it, doesn't make any sense to put expensive kit in GPs surgeries if it doesn't get used enough.
kimbers - MemberJust had lunch with junior doctor in genito urinary medicine
the closures of the already oversubscribed clinics across london sound like a really really bad idea, but sexual health is now the problem of local councils (responsibility for Public Health was transferred over to them earlier this year) and considering the cuts theyve had to make, her advice was basically dont have sex with anyone in the next few years, theres gonna be and STD explosion!
Aye. But of course, there's no NHS cuts... First you cut the thing from the NHS, [i]then[/i] you cut it. As if that were any ****ing different.
So they're not preconditions, they're just his red lines which he won't negotiate on? And that's ok?
The 23 recommendations aren't preconditions, but any solution they come to must allow the creation of the 7 day NHS - that is two different things - you only have to look the recommendations ([url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445742/50576_DDRB_report_2015_WEB_book.pdf ]pages x and xi[/url]) to see that most of them deal with things that aren't mission critical to such as result, so it is not the same thing.
any solution they come to must allow the creation of the 7 day NHS
"[b]Junior doctors already work seven days[/b] and are the backbone of medical care in hospitals at weekends and at night."
-- Jeremy Hunt in his letter to Junior Doctors
mefty - Memberany solution they come to must allow the creation of the 7 day NHS
Which is tricky, because first they'll have to abolish the existing 7 day NHS to make that possible.
Hey, is this a good time to mention the Hunt Effect again?
http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4596/rr-52
But it already is a 7 day NHS!how can people still not see that?
Too slow, see above 🙂
Great, so it is red line that they need not be concerned with.
Great, so it is red line that they need not be concerned with.
Yes, it's difficult to see why they have a problem with trusting Hunt.
Incidentally my missus is a "less than full-time" junior doctor - a decision we took so that our kids will at least vaguely recognise her.
She's working today, Saturday and Sunday, 9am till 10pm. She was working Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 till 5.
So that's 56 rota'd hours this week, not including the evenings she spent working on her training and e-portfolio, or the all-day course she went to on Tuesday, her day off.
Can you see why they are worried about being made to work longer hours?
[quote=mefty opined]Great, so it is red line that they need not be concerned with.
Interesting way of accepting you were wrong.
Interesting way of accepting you were wrong.
Not at all - just responding in kind to the favoured STW tactic of making a smart arse point that doesn't address the issue.
She's working today, Saturday and Sunday, 9am till 10pm. She was working Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 till 5.
I can't see how that is safe. I couldn't guarantee that my last patient of the day got the quality of care that the first person did if I was working those hours.
And to think that is classed as part time.
She's working today, Saturday and Sunday, 9am till 10pm. She was working Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 till 5.
I can't see how that is safe. I couldn't guarantee that my last patient of the day got the quality of care that the first person did if I was working those hours.And to think that is classed as part time.
That sucks for part time.
My 'Full Time' week this week. Monday/Tues 8am till 8.30pm Wed/Thurs 8am till 5pm Fri/Sat/Sun 8pm till 8.30am - a cool 80 hours. In fact Ive already worked 43 hours this week before I start 3 night shifts. I really dont want to work any longer hours - I dont know how it would be possible!
When I sliced my hand up, the doctor who saw me was at the wrong end of an 11 hour shift, at 3am. When he went to do the ring block on my finger, he had a wobbly moment and stuck the needle right through my finger and into the work surface 😆 It did wake him up... Poor bugger was horrified at the lapse, but it's not like he created the situation. It's just mad that we consider this normal tbh.
Hunt's comments suggest he's going to reduce the maximum number of hours, but he doesn't say how he's going to staff that change.
As a wee aside; the fact checker page linked earlier states that the new offer sets maximum working hours at 72, but also specifies that overtime rates kick in at 87. So I was wondering... If the limit is 72, why is there anything in there for things that happen at 87? If it's correct (and I don't know), then you'd have to conclude that the 72 hour limit is no such thing really.
It's just mad that we consider this normal tbh.
+1
Not at all - just responding in kind to the favoured STW tactic of making a smart arse point that doesn't address the issue.
Eh...what ..you said they needed to allow the creation of a 7 day NHS everyone pointed out that the NHS is 7 days per week - even Hunt accepts this point
There is nothing smart here its just you being dumb.
Eh...what ..you said they needed to allow the creation of a 7 day NHS everyone pointed out that the NHS is 7 days per week - even Hunt accepts this point
I think he was talking about me. In which case I just didn't understand what he was trying to argue.
Meanwhile Jeremy Hunt couldn't be bothered to turn up to discuss the doctors' strikes.
I suppose that's better than last time when he just walked out in the middle of the debate.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/jeremy-hunt-didnt-turn-up-for-a-commons-statement-on-the-doc
Eh...what ..you said they needed to allow the creation of a 7 day NHS everyone pointed out that the NHS is 7 days per week - even Hunt accepts this point
In the context of the dispute it is pretty clear in broad terms what is meant by a seven day NHS as used in Hunt's letter and it is quite clear if you read the paper I linked to. I appreciate context is not one of your stronger suits.
Deck chairs, titanic
Blood mess
BMJ might also do a survey on admissions on Friday where basically stuck in the bed waiting for consultant to come on a Monday.
waiting for consultant to come on a Monday.
Less than 1% of consultants choose to opt-out of weekend work:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/less-than-one-per-cent-of-nhs-consultants-use-control-loophole-to-opt-out-of-weekend-work-10436080.html
If there is a lack of consultants at weekends then it is due to a lack of numbers, not a lack of willing.
In the context of the dispute it is pretty clear in broad terms what is meant by a seven day NHS as used in Hunt's letter and it is quite clear if you read the paper I linked to. I appreciate context is not one of your stronger suits.
and admitting you were wrong and dealing with facts is not one yours.
You can get indignant and insult me all you like but it wont change the fact you made an error and , despite the evidence, you wont admit what we can all see
Are you sure you are not Hunt? 😉
Ps I think you just tried a STW tactic of making a smart arse point that doesn't address the issue oh the irony
The unlikeliest of allies Peter Stefanovic, a Medical Negligence Lawyer, tells it exactly like it is:
BMJ might also do a survey on admissions on Friday where basically stuck in the bed waiting for consultant to come on a Monday.
Hello!
This is woefully inaccurate. I have just returned from my hospital shift. Every patient admitted is reviewed by the consultant on call (almost always within 12 hours). My Consultant left tonight at 10pm with the cheery words 'see you at half eight in the morning, feel free to phone me if you have any problems overnight'
This image of them on call from the golf course undermines a very hard working group of professionals! In my humble opinion. Actually working with them and all.
Oh Christ it's the missus. Now I'm in trouble.
and admitting you were wrong and dealing with facts is not one yours.
You will see from Hunt's letter he talks about the need to secure "a truly 7 day NHS" - to make it easy I will link it [url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477537/hunt-malawana-nov.pdf ]again[/url]. It is sitting there in the final two sentances of the second para.
Likewise para 3 of the Executive Summary of the other document I linked too explains the remit as
We received remits from the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland
Executive to make recommendations on changed contractual arrangements for doctors
and dentists in training, including a new system of pay progression. We were also asked
by them to make observations on pay-related proposals for reforming the consultants’
contract. In both cases, our remit was linked to a desire to facilitate the delivery of
healthcare services seven days a week, in a financially sustainable way. The Scottish
Government gave us a remit to make observations on new contractual arrangements
for doctors and dentists in training only. We thank all parties for their written and oral
evidence and we hope that our report assists them in reaching a negotiated conclusion
on both contracts to support the provision of excellent patient care. We were asked to
have regard to any read-across to the similar remit given to the NHS Pay Review Body
(NHSPRB), and we have been made aware of their observations.
In this context, I really struggle to see where what I said was incorrect as I was talking in the context of the negotiating position.
You can get indignant and insult me all you like but it wont change the fact you made an error and , despite the evidence, you wont admit what we can all see
Matthew 7:3
As per other posts - the NHS runs seven days already for emergency care.
No health system in the world runs a seven day elective service.
Elective surgery frequently gets cancelled Monday to Friday in winter due to lack of beds. Running operating lists on a weekend will just mean more cancellations as there will still be no beds.
It would also need a huge increase in staff - we have one junior mon-fi which some weeks is a locum - we don't have enough staff and they all work maximum hours. More on at weekend = we would need even more locums. The sound bite is great, the reality is seven day services are nowhere near happening.
I'll just add in that I'm about to leave for a 10hr shift in the hospital laboratory and I'll do the same again tomorrow. We've been providing a full 24/7 diagnostic lab service to my local acute and community services for nearly 20yrs.
I had elective surgery on xmas eve once. Went home xmas day. So its not just 7 day a week its also 365 days a year.
In this context, I really struggle to see where what I said was incorrect as I was talking in the context of the negotiating position.
You are the only one "struggling" to see why when you asked for a 7 day NHS you got something wrong. The answer is that there is a 7 day NHS. I am not sure how many people need to tell you this over how many pages for you to get it. Its really not that hard to work out.
Continuing to insult me wont make you right you will just look wrong and rude.
but any solution they come to must allow the creation of the 7 day NHS
That is what you said and we still have a 7 day NHS so we cannot create it.
Anyway I think we have found your red line on negotiations its somewhere around factually accurate/prevaricate endlessly 😉
why when you asked for a 7 day NHS you got something wrong.
But I didn't ask for a 7 day NHS, I was merely paraphrasing what Jeremy Hunt wrote in his letter to the BMA with a view to looking at the lemonysam's question/contention that this was same thing as not being willing to negotiate on the 23 issues. My conclusion, from reading the conditions, was that there was room for movement without breaching the 7 day redline and therefore they weren't equivalent. It is therefore wrong for the BMA to say he is not willing to negotiate on the 23 conditions.
Frankly, I do not have an informed view on the relative merits of the Tories's 7 day NHS manifesto committment and very limited interest in coming to one.
I think the point that is being failed to be adequately addressed is that this whole dispute is NOTHING TO DO WITH CREATING A SEVEN DAY SERVICE.
Evidence;
1) There already IS a seven day service.
2) There is no actual evidenced NEED for the services that aren't currently available at the weekend; only a discredited study that stated that more people die at the weekend, which actually stated ITSELF that there was no causal relationship proven.
3) If we did want to increase provision at the weekend, the staff group that ALREADY PROVIDE THE BACKBONE OF WEEKEND COVER (Hunt, 2015) are hardly the prime targets for reform.
4) Mr Hunt is not interested in making the NHS work. All available evidence would suggest that he has been appointed to **** the whole system up to such a degree that mass privatisation is the only option left. He is a hatchet man, nothing more, nothing less.
Make no mistake, this campaign of destruction and demoralisation is nothing to do with providing a more effective service. It is a concerted ideological attack on the fabric of the National Health Service. If any other 'leader' of an organisation had failed to engage his employees to such a degree that [b]98%[/b] of the staff group in question had effectively voted 'no confidence' in him, he'd be out on his ear. Instead the Tories are laughing all the way to their fat, (directorships of international healthcare corporation funded) piggy banks.
It is a concerted ideological attack on the fabric of the National Health Service.
Oh come on, public school educated Tories with aristocratic backgrounds, such as Jeremy Hunt, love the NHS - it represents everything that they fundamentally believe in.
If any other 'leader' of an organisation had failed to engage his employees to such a degree that 98% of the staff group in question had effectively voted 'no confidence' in him, he'd be out on his ear.
Gove? You watch Hunt will **** it all up then piss off elsewhere to be replaced by someone who talks a much nicer game but carries on with all the same shit.
Bring back Liam Fox and Atlantic Bridge !
[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/6030060/Senior-Tories-links-with-Republican-NHS-bashers-revealed.html ]Senior Tories' links with Republican NHS-bashers revealed[/url]
[i][b] George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, and Michael Gove, shadow children's secretary, are all on the advisory council of Atlantic Bridge, a conservative, transatlantic organisation aimed at promoting the “special relationship” between Britain and the United States.
The group is chaired by Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, and has Baroness Thatcher as its patron.
Also on the advisory council are a number of leading US critics of President Barack Obama's plans for health care reform, which opponents have likened to the NHS. [/i][/b]
[i]But ultrasound and xray? Centralising gets the hardware and expertise where it's needed and where we get the most use out of it, doesn't make any sense to put expensive kit in GPs surgeries if it doesn't get used enough.[/i]
Righto, to clear up this one. There are any number of AQP (any qualified providers) offering community based direct access ultrasound that are based in GP surgeries, however there are very few offering those services for pregnancy (or cancer for that matter) as the CCG don't (generally) want them to. The two O's (oncology and Obs) have their own pathways that are well established, little to be gained by having the scans for those in different places than the specialists generally are.
The Ultrasound Kit that is used is portable (so not fixed) in the surgery, and AQP services generally go from practice to practice and see 20-25 pts a day for most non-obstetric scans.
The problem is not that it doesn't get used enough, it's that once GPs realise that they can have access to NOUS pretty much weekly, it becomes a diagnostic tool, rather than a PITA (sending pts to a hospital miles away with a 6-8wk wait time). The problem is often that the budget for scans gets burned through too fast.
The "7-day NHS" thing is a [i]whopper[/i] of a red herring - ignoring both the reality of NHS acute care, and the simple fact that services will not be improved by spreading existing resources ever more thinly.
Hunt is a disgrace. Full stop. Whatever the political tendencies of an incumbent Government, no Secretary of State should be dispensing such blatant misinformation and disingenuous spin.
no Secretary of State should be dispensing such blatant misinformation and disingenuous spin.
You think their case would be stronger if they told the truth?
You think their case would be stronger if they told the truth?
[img] 
[/img]
I've just finished a long day at the NHS coalface, Ernie - I am not in a forgiving mood. 8)
I think Nye was spot on there, specially with reference to electoral success.
Make no mistake, this campaign of destruction and demoralisation is nothing to do with providing a more effective service. It is a concerted ideological attack on the fabric of the National Health Service. If any other 'leader' of an organisation had failed to engage his employees to such a degree that 98% of the staff group in question had effectively voted 'no confidence' in him, he'd be out on his ear. Instead the Tories are laughing all the way to their fat, (directorships of international healthcare corporation funded) piggy banks.
Are you sure you know what you're talking about? Because it seems to me you are talking about the police, the Home Secretary, and her massive financial interest in G4S.
😉
[url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-aoife-abbey/junior-doctors-strike_b_8617976.html ]Jeremy Hunt - Does He Actually Know What the Junior Contract Row Is About? (HuffPo)[/url]
Tories ... such as Jeremy Hunt, love the NHS - it represents everything that they fundamentally believe in.
Indeed they do, that's why they committed to spend an extra £8bn a year vs the Labour pledge of just £2bn.
That'll be why they're trying to privatise it, then - out of love.
it represents everything that they fundamentally believe in.
That'll be ........from each according to their ability, to each according according to their need.
The Tories don't stop banging on about that, eh jambalaya?
[url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/11/25/junior-doctors-strike-negotiation-jeremy-hunt_n_8647494.html ]I see Jeremy is still playing games.[/url]
He has now agreed to talks with the BMA at ACAS, so he can spin himself as the hero trying to avoid the "serious harm to patients" caused by a strike*.
But he is going into those talks saying he will still impose the contract whether they like it or not.
So the doctors are still striking and he can portray them as unreasonable.
.
* (statistically deaths go [i]down[/i] during junior doctor strikes, but let's not let that get in the way of spin eh Jeremy)