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Thursday 24 May 2012
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Choose and Book goes ‘mainstream’ with starring role in BBC drama

By Andrew McNicoll | 21 Feb 2012

Exclusive A GP's refusal to refer patients via Choose and Book will be at the centre of a BBC drama this week, triggering a sit in protest by patients and a ‘dressing down' from colleagues.

Pulse has learnt the Connecting for Health referral system makes its debut in an episode of BBC One soap ‘Doctors' tomorrow, with character Dr Kevin Tyler failing to refer patients through Choose and Book.

According to plot previews published by the Digital Spy, a patient stages a sit in protest in the soap's The Mill surgery until Dr Tyler refers her to a specialist using Choose and Book. After learning of Dr Tyler's failure to use Choose and Book, his colleague Dr Julia Parson gives him a ‘dressing down' and ‘berates him for neglecting his duties,' Digital Spy reports.

Connecting for Health told Pulse that they believed Dr Tyler eventually makes amends for ignoring the system and ‘learns the process properly'.

The plot marks the second time Choose and Book has appeared in a mainstream soap opera. The first was in Eastenders, where a character burned her printed referral slip in the midst of a breast cancer scare.

A Connecting for Health spokesperson said: ‘Choose and Book has gained mainstream acceptance and is set for its second appearance in a BBC One soap next week'.

READERS' COMMENTS

Simon Ruffle, GP Partner,
21 Feb 2012
A Connecting for Health spokesperson said: ‘Choose and Book has gained mainstream acceptance'
Wey hey!
I wonder if real GPs will accept it, rather than suffer, it now the fake and barely plausible one's have.
I suppose the bearly plausible holier-than-thou sofa GPs will use it as well:
'Yes Eamon/Lorraine (or whomever is on the sofa these days) good question, I'll just log on and find out who to refer to... oh bugger! link seems to be down again...'
Great TV viewing as next programme gets delayed another 10 minurtes and presenter shouts at you for running late!
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Anonymous, Sessional/Locum GP,
22 Feb 2012
Is there a bit where the GP spends 15 minutes making the referral but when the patient phones up to make the appointment the booking line asks them to call back in 2 weeks, which then becomes 4 weeks, then 6 weeks etc? Finally, the patient would cross some arbitrary deadline and the GP is asked to make a new referral for the same problem.
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Anonymous, GP Partner,
22 Feb 2012
Whilst this is good for a laugh, anyone else feel that this sort of media manipulation would be approved of by Goebbels and Stalin? Government line shoe-horned into mass entertainment for the education of the proletariat.
All hail to our noble tractor factories.

I would like to suggest the following scenarios for future programmes:

1) Mrs Jones is appalled at being prescribed expensive Nasonex spray and stages a sit-in protest for her right to be prescribed Beconase.

2) Mr Doughty is appalled at the suggestion he should be referred for expensive hip replacement for his OA with protrusio acetabuli, and stages a sit down protest in favour of his right to carry on struggling on

3) Mrs Martyr is appalled that she should be admitted to that expensive hospital with her acute stroke, and stages a bed-lie in protest .
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Anonymous, Practice Manager,
23 Feb 2012
No wonder that patients have a totally unrealistic view of gPs and all that goes with teh job when this sort of trash is peddled on TV. How about something on patients who do not turn up for appointments and prevent other patients seeing patients - too realistic or in danger of pointing out to patients that they have responsibilities?
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