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Under cover at GP surgery

hifinutt

hifinutt

hifinutt
Looks interesting programme on panorama

Operose Health has grown rapidly in recent years - it has spent millions buying GP practices. It now runs 70 surgeries with nearly 600,000 patients, making it the biggest GP provider to the NHS.

Across the UK, there is a shortage of GPs and general practice is under unprecedented pressure. Former Operose employees who spoke to Panorama - a dozen doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other staff - said they believed patient safety was being put at risk.

Our investigation found the company let less qualified staff see patients, rather than doctors, without adequate supervision.

Operose denies profit is being prioritised ahead of patient care and says it has a clear process of supervision.

This is the diary of my time working in a busy Operose GP practice in London.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61759641
 
I was reading about this yesterday, sounds very dodgy. Apparently the change to allow larger companies to buy GP practices was introduced by Labour in 2007 :confused:.
 
My surgery now expects me to take my own blood pressure and drive to hospital for a blood test. Medication review by phone. They were a fairly large village practice but were taken over by a multi practice outfit about three years ago. Since then the service has become crap, they frequently screw up my prescription and ‘you are number 11am when I call if I am lucky. They blame Covid but I suspect they are putting profit before patients. It shouldn’t be forgotten that they operate a similar business model to solicitors, a partnership, they flog their service to the NHS.
 
Rodrat said:
My surgery now expects me to take my own blood pressure and drive to hospital for a blood test. Medication review by phone. They were a fairly large village practice but were taken over by a multi practice outfit about three years ago. Since then the service has become crap, they frequently screw up my prescription and ‘you are number 11am when I call if I am lucky. They blame Covid but I suspect they are putting profit before patients. It shouldn’t be forgotten that they operate a similar business model to solicitors, a partnership, they flog their service to the NHS.
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Mine's just the same. Used to be 5 or 6 partners and now only 3 and the service is degrading rapidly. We often get fobbed off with a call to an unknown outside 'doctor', my wife was told recently the her heart palpitations from long covid are anxiety - she used to run half marathons but now only manages the walk to the local school with some difficulty.
 
6 partners plus assorted others - always been like this. Blood letting has always been at the local hospital.
 
I believe we need to take care with our criticisms of GP surgeries. Criticisms are entirely justified and legitimate, but the problems are systematic. It is the government that is in control of the system that should be the focus of criticism.

I have not seen the Panorama programme, but from what I’ve read on the BBC website, it concentrates on effects rather than causes, and the causes are systematic.

Vested interests will be happy for anger and criticism to be directed at GP’s if it services further privatisation and if that happens, health care will most likely decline further.
 
Seeing this from Italy, where your family doctor, known as the "medico di base," is authorised, registered and paid by the regional health authority, this sounds absolutely shocking! That you can buy or sell the most basic and essential social service seems completely absurd. And to think that the world used to look at the NHS as an example to be followed!
Who thought this up? What government/party? Thatcher? Blair? Browne?

Yours, shocked and indignant, from Rome.
 
k90tour said:
It's driving NHS doctors into private practice. So many I speak to have had enough.
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It's driving doctors out of general practice, one of my close friends wife has recently given up her practice partnership and moved into a non clinical role elsewhere.
 
Colin L said:
Yet another good reason to live in Scotland.
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Yes... and no.

Our local practices are in the community hospital. But if you try to get an appointment you go via 'triage' who then decide if that can be done. Then you get a phone or video appointment of set duration unless there is a good reason to the contrary.

The basic problems are indeed systemic. Not all of them are confined to England. Scotland gets some of the backwash from them.

Cuts to provision. Making the practice 'pay' for things when they dare to refer on for tests or consultantcies. Limit on wage costs that push NHS staff to quit and come back 'on contract' from outsourcing companies that cream off profit. Hospital Trusts that run on 'loans' that have to be repaid with interest because the basic funding is too low for the set workload. etc, etc. In efffect a way to drive things over to the big medical companies in stealth mode. The companies and the required 'loan repayments' suck money back out of the system and weaken the ability of the NHS to pay staff competitive rates and give them decent working conditions.

Ye Olde Story... covered from view.

Result, lots of profits for big international medical leeching companies, etc. Money that would have been better spent on getting and paying more staff working at a decent pay and conditions *for* the NHS without a profit creaming outsourcer.
 
The simple fact that Labour will no doubt not guarantee to force all such surgeries back into NHS ownership is a fine example of why I will not be voting for the foreseeable future.
 
Er....Such surgeries never were in NHS ownership.

GP practices were partnerships who 'contracted' to the NHS and charged the NHS for every little thing they did. Partners earned fortunes... Still do in my area. Their salaried colleagues (non partners) have far more reasonable earnings - still well above average - but you would expect that I would think. Likewise hospital salaried doctors. Consultants, especially those who can either take on additional management work (Medical Officers) or private work will do very well indeed.

It was the Labour government who allowed private contractors to buy out the partnerships. If they ever win power again, they will be in no position to change that in the future. Some stuff just cannot be re-wound.

Among other things driving Doctors, Consultants and GPs out of 'work' is the complex and stupid pension rules. A Doc with quite a few years of service finds that the tax charges on their pension contributions mean that it is questionable whether it is worth working further.

Not just the doctors - some other senior staff also fall into these stupid Tax traps. I personally know of several who have suddenly had to engage professional help to deal with Revenue demands that are plain wrong, then challenged, get re-calculated and are still wrong. Other people are just doing the whole early retirement thing as Covid home time made them realise that they can survive very well without the daily grind, or indeed the salary. My wife has several direct reports to here doing just this - creating a whole recruitment headache when the unemployment rate is very low. Most qualified people who want to work, are working.

Personal case - my wife was sent a £60k tax bill (yes you read that right!), reduced to less than £4k now and we know that even that is wrong. Formal appeal pending. In the meantime best to pay up (not the £60k thank goodness!) we are told and claim it back if proved right.
 
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