Greg Wood
The diary of Jeremy Hunt
Actually quite similar to Pepys.
Should I stop patients calling my colleague a 'lady doctor'?
The Comments Section has delivered its verdict!
The privilege of being a doctor
This sort of writing sounds nice but is actually rather mushy. Ebola is a bad example to give of clinical effectiveness: there is no specific treatment - simple public health measures were the key to containing it.
And there are lots of jobs where there is a 'special relationship' and unique insight. Being a GP is a well paid job, not radically different from many other skilled trades, but one which can be quite conservative and sometimes a bit sentimental.GPs to refer long-term sick to occupational health service as national scheme goes live
To Dr Cervoni: it's an odd world where the DWP would automatically assess someone who is employed but off work through illness. Imagine if you broke a leg skiing and someone from the Jobcentre came round to your house to see whether you were REALLY unable to work! Thankfully, the DWP isn't doing that - it's voluntary.
Should I report a patient I suspect of benefits fraud?
This is a truly terrible article.
My main criticism is that the government's preferred mechanism for reporting suspected benefit fraud is via a dedicated DWP website or a telephone hotline (to be used by anyone; the fact that you are a GP counts for nought). It can be used anonymously if you wish. They don't expect people to go directly to the police - imagine how much valuable police time would be wasted that way on vexatious complaints!
Secondly, how many GPs practising in the real world are actually going to tell one of their patients that, oh, they are going to try to get them put in prison?
Finally, the DWP no longer considers GPs able to judge entitlement to sickness benefits anyway (rightly or wrongly) - that's why the assessments have been outsourced since 1995!!Why I joined general practice at 51
Isn't this all a bit simplistic: be honest and kind...time is our most precious commodity...limit the amount of work you do and take regular holidays? Or is it just me?
Pulse speaks with Prime Minister David Cameron
For what it's worth:
a) This was a 'Q & A', not a real interview
b) I suspect the questions were emailed to Tory HQ and answered by a spotty herbert, not by Cameron
c) It's crude propaganda, nothing more.Practices rated ‘inadequate’ by CQC have underlying recruitment problems
Hold the front page! Half of all practices are below the average, according to the latest CQC statistics!!
'GP partnerships will likely not exist in ten years'
When I lived in Kennington, Lambeth in 2012, the Hurley Clinic there had terrible problems with access: because the formal system had largely broken down, patients often had to queue outside the surgery before 0800 just to get an appointment - and not necessarily one for that morning.
Understanding fit notes
Ha! Many parallels between general vets and GPs, I'd say: quite a lot of URTIs (kennel cough); GI upsets; health advice (to the owners, usually); vaccinations; developmental and behavioural issues; obesity management; terminal illness; and reassurance that all is well.
No sick notes though...Understanding fit notes
Understood, though GPs are asked for a lot of things for which people would expect to pay when dealing with similar professionals e.g. vets or opticians.
Disparaging social media comments - is a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy acceptable?
Come off it, ya stuck-up sticky beak! Social media are all about openness. If it's false and damaging, you can take action. If you just don't like what's being said about you: tough toodles.
PS I'm not a military GP (not since 2007 anyway) - Pulse has got me all wrong.I am being driven around the U-bend
Editor, There is a danger of 'shilling' with anonymous posts on politically sensitive issues: interest groups trying to influence opinion to suit their aims rather than as a part of a constructive and honest debate.
Is it worth policing Anon contributions more closely?Legal threat over GP refusal to support benefit appeals dropped
These anonymous comments from a GP leave a bad taste in the mouth. I can't see why the Ed allows it. If he is genuine and wants to be taken seriously, he should identify himself, in my view.
Peverley’s attack on benefit claimants was wrong-headed - and having worked for Atos, I should know
For more on the WCA, check out my blog: http://worktestwhistleblower.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/wca-rip.html
Stop exploiting GPs’ goodwill
The DWP deliberately relies on patients seeking medical evidence for themselves, apolicy which has been successfully challenged via a Judicial Review. There is already a mechanism for the DWP via its proxy, Atos, to approach GPs directly but it is often simply not used. GPs have my sympathy; the Work Capability programme is a steaming pile of...
It is not up to GPs to decide which patients are ‘deserving’ or ‘undeserving’
On a technical point, the medical history isn't as important as your opinion on the patient's likely difficulties with activities of daily living. GPs shouldn't be asked to decide fitness for work once Atos are involved.
Peverley’s attack on benefit claimants was wrong-headed - and having worked for Atos, I should know
There's many a true word spoken in jest, Dr Anon!
Dr P's column was picked up by the national press and not taken as being tongue in cheek, if that's what it was.
Not many people would want a GP who was a wheeler dealer - look it up...
