NHS: Pass the Patients Back

Time was:

… When I was employed by a Regional Health Authority and seconded to a local Hospital. Consultants were thus “protected” though we hardly “whistle-blowed” and in those days only really “bad” doctors got suspended.

…  When GPs would write personally to a named Consultant and the Consultant would take pride in providing the consultation and reply personally.

…  When medical secretaries would take short hand and they took pride in what they did for a low pay, but it was for the common good.

…  When junior doctors would learn not only from consultants but from experienced nurses and sisters (yes, sisters).

…  When we accepted patients transferred back from private hospitals because the patients’ insurer dumped them or the private hospitals could no longer cope.

…  When the only cancelled appointments were those with the wives, husbands, or family: patients always came first. One Christmas day I took a present to a young patient in hospital before going to friends for lunch. The family waited in the car.

… When we were respected and we knew it, and we were all proud of our NHS.

Now: 

…  London alone had 31 PCTs.

…  Good doctors get suspended left, right and centre, for whistle-blowing or whatever.

…  GPs cannot refer to named consultants, and in the case of psychiatry, to any consultants at all, but to a faceless committee.

…  Appointments get cancelled many times as none were genuine appointments in the first place, but only given to satisfy the Patient’s Charter.

…   We have a worst NHS structure than ever, with years of management expert advice only draining our limited resources.  Note that the management experts collapsed the banks and we, the people, had to rescue them. 

I know, the old days were not perfect, but things worked well enough and management was only 6% of total NHS spend. Now it is at least FOUR times that, but we do not know as those who knew did not want us or the MPs to know.

If the new government really wants to care for the people of this country and I think they do, they have to start taking advice from where it is offered FREE, from genuine people who love to see the NHS work.

Our NHS is not a BUSINESS, and should never be, as patients are not, and should never be treated as commodities.

It looks like the new Health Secretary is prepared to tear up the OOH (Out of Hour) contract, why not ISTC (Independent Sector Treatment Contract) and PFI (Private Funding Initiative) as well, while he is at it.

Pass the patients back to us: the doctors and nurses. 

ISTC

PFI

Whistle-blower