Pretty much, yes. Which isn't a perfect system either, but it's easier than setting up something like the German system or whatever. You'd also have to include a minimum service level so you don't end up with the same issues people are having with dentists at the moment.
UK Politics #5
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I don't think it's a secret that other systems for paying for healthcare exist. However I suspect we'll end up with exactly the type of system favoured by all the interested parties that are bunging money to MPs and that will be the one that makes them the most money.
I can't blame you. I thought of doing that myself recently but fortunately it wasn't necessary. Of course that's been exactly the plan for the last 13 years. Run the NHS down to the point that enough people will welcome a privatised system.
Got to admit that i never had a problem getting a GP appointment when i needed one. I go down to the GP surgery in the morning around 7:30 and can get an appointment if i need one that day. I hear some presenters on radio speaking about waiting a week or more for a GP appointment. Find that hard to believe, but maybe they are right. I have heard from people who struggle to get a NHS dentist these days though, especially if you never had a NHS dentist to begin with.
Thankfully, I can't remember the last time I was unwell enough to need a GP appointment but I'd ring at 8.30am only to be in a queue and sometimes be offered an appointment over a month away.
I can get within 2 weeks if I'm lucky but the only same day appointment I've ever got is a telephone one. Which is fine enough as I've never had anything serious.
That is surprising to me. It used to be similar for me too, phone appointment or call at 8am and never get through, but the receptionist said if i could go down at 7-7:30am or thereabouts they could book me in same day.
Have to be honest I've not had issues with GP appointments for the last few years and thats just for minor things. Mine has an online message system and I've always had either an appointment or phone call on the same day with no time wasted trying to get through. Blood appointments usually take 2-3 weeks though.
10+ years ago it was terrible with the busy phone lines and appointments nearly a month away when you finally got through and if you didn't get through they said to try again tomorrow.
10+ years ago it was terrible with the busy phone lines and appointments nearly a month away when you finally got through and if you didn't get through they said to try again tomorrow.
I needed a GP appointment last year - I called in August and the first appointment I could get was in October. The issue wasn’t ‘urgent’ as such but that’s not an unusual wait in my area, although we do have a known issue with far too few GPs and too small a hospital for the local population. For my issue I’ve ended up needing fairly regular appointments with a specialist nurse every six weeks or so whilst we sort out medication (and my experience with the nurse is way, way better than it was with the original GP). I will say that once you’re in the system getting appointment is much easier, but that actually getting that first appointment is terrifyingly hard, especially if something is chronic rather than acute.
I see. We don't have that ability at my local GP or I've never been told about it. That's another issue. There isn't the same access across the country.
Yeah that is an issue. It isn't consistent across the country. I was just surprised to hear that people are waiting weeks for a GP appt. But according to some on here, including yourself, it seems to be a legit problem.
Certainly where I live it’s an issue. It’s not just waiting for an appointment, it’s actually being able to book one. If you call past a certain time in the day you’ll simply be told to try again tomorrow. It can take a couple of weeks just to get an appointment unless you say it’s urgent, and then you start the wait for the actual appointment. What also annoys me is that GPs (at least in my area) are so strict about catchment areas. I used to be registered with probably the closest local surgery that was right on a bus route for me, but then they told me I’d have to move because they’d redrawn their catchment area to accommodate some newly built estates. Now I’m registered with a practice that’s a lot further away and isn’t that accessible by public transport, and on the couple of occasions when I’ve been offered a face to face appointment I’ve only been able to see a GP at a partner surgery that’s even further away. It just doesn’t make sense - home visits are unheard of now, I’m young-ish and relatively healthy and you’d think that the nearest GP would be happy to get the money for having me on the books!
In 2015 there were 36,525 fully qualified GPs working in the NHS. That equated to 27,306 full time equivalent GPs. Since then rising population and an aging demographic has increased demand for GP services but the number of GPs has actually declined. In February 2020 the government announced a drive to recruit an additional 6,000 GPs by 2024. As of March 2023 we have the equivalent of 2.053 fewer GPs than we did in 2015.
In 2015 there were on average 1,938 patients per GP in 7,623 practices. In March this year the ratio of patients per GP had increased to 2,285 and the number of practices decreased to 6,407. In 2015 there were 0.52 fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients and in March that has fallen to 0.44 GPs per 1,000 patients.
So please let's not have any of this nonsense that the situation was worse 10 years ago. By any measure the GP service has declined since 2015. The government has completely and spectacularly failed in 'delivering' the real solution i.e. increasing the number of GPs and instead can only offer to improve the phone system and apprentice GPs.
In 2015 there were on average 1,938 patients per GP in 7,623 practices. In March this year the ratio of patients per GP had increased to 2,285 and the number of practices decreased to 6,407. In 2015 there were 0.52 fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients and in March that has fallen to 0.44 GPs per 1,000 patients.
So please let's not have any of this nonsense that the situation was worse 10 years ago. By any measure the GP service has declined since 2015. The government has completely and spectacularly failed in 'delivering' the real solution i.e. increasing the number of GPs and instead can only offer to improve the phone system and apprentice GPs.
Revealed: Suella Braverman accused of new ministerial code breaches over Rwanda links
Exclusive: Home secretary was the director of a charity providing training to Rwandan government lawyers for five years
Is she trying to get a full house or something?
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says a woman can 'quite clearly' have a penis
A caller called Mary asked him on LBC to explain 'what is a woman', saying she was a tactical voter - a group which could help the Lib Dems pick off Tory seats at the next general election.
This is such tosh. What self respecting woman will vote in a man who says that women can ‘quite clearly’ have a penis. How bloody backwards are we that we have to ask our political leaders if they know what a woman is? It’s so frustrating and ridiculous.
This really frightens me cos of a past medical problem. I would have been loathe to ring 999 when a simple prescription would have stabilized me in a few days.
Imagine ringing 999 for them to pressurise the surgery to write a prescription!
Luckily for me at the time the new, young doctor listened to me despite obviously being scared on the phone call. With today's jobsworths I wouldn't rate my chances.
Boris. 
I really hope you’re being sarcastic…
Oh I am!
I think he's vile.
Very gracious of him 
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says a woman can 'quite clearly' have a penis
A caller called Mary asked him on LBC to explain 'what is a woman', saying she was a tactical voter - a group which could help the Lib Dems pick off Tory seats at the next general election.www.dailymail.co.uk
This is such tosh. What self respecting woman will vote in a man who says that women can ‘quite clearly’ have a penis. How bloody backwards are we that we have to ask our political leaders if they know what a woman is? It’s so frustrating and ridiculous.
Who are they actually appealing to with this? A tiny minority?I think the scales are falling from people's eyes, and we're all left wondering how just the progressive view went from 'dress and live how you want', to the progressive view = 'either say women have penises or you're a fascist'. Strange bleeping world.
At this risk of turning this into the conspiracy theory thread (I'm defo not the only one thinking it) - there's gotta be an ungodly huge flow of money being poured into propelling this view into the dizzying heights we've seen it achieve in about ~10 years.
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