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Day of action will only create work

I can't help thinking that a day of providing only urgent care will not make any difference at all.

All that will happen is for us to be busier than usual afterwards.

Instead, why don't we stop being gatekeepers for a day? We could, for instance:

  • refer everyone to secondary care rather than sorting problems out ourselves
  • prescribe what we feel patients need clinically, rather than worrying about the cost
  • prescribe branded rather than generic drugs
  • stop using Choose and Book and refer to named consultants
  • investigate everything, and not worry about how much the tests cost.

These are a few examples of things that would remind the Department of Health that we save the NHS a huge amount of money every day.

Patients will still receive the care they need, whether urgent or routine, and will not suffer at all.

They may even be grateful that we are asking for a specialist opinion more often and prescribing expensive drugs.

If it costs more, it's bound to be more effective, right?

I am nearing the end of my career and have enjoyed it immensely, despite endless political interference.

I feel that we owe it to our younger colleagues to make a stand, otherwise primary care as we have known it will no longer exist.

 

From Dr Malcolm Foulds

Sydenham, south London