anthonyqkiernan
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£250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 11:11
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Listened to lots of discussion of this on the news this morning
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4917454.stm
And, TBH, all I could think was "so what?" Yeah, they seem to be missing the point (in my recent experience). I have no problem with GPs being paid that much money (or nurses etc etc). What does bother me is that it appears to be a reward for reducing their service levels, measured only by tick boxes. At my local docs, they proudly declare that they are giving people appointments "within 24 hours" of calling up. The fact that if there are none that day, you need to try and get through the next day and if there's no spaces....is just not mentioned. Need to make an appointment in the future for a non-emergency? Tough.
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anthonyqkiernan
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 11:12
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OK, maybe I do have a problem with anyone being paid that much. What I meant was, if someone's going to earn that much it might as well be someone more deserving
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sttomas
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 11:29
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You'll find that a lot of GP surgeries use that method, mine does and I find it bloody annoying, as, not working in Newport, I have to take a full day's leave just to go to the doctors where the surgery's based.
I will admit that the GP's interviewed on that site did sound a bit like they were bragging (they did to me anyway), although I will say thay the GP's do provide a lot of additional services to patients that they didn't before their new contract was initiated in 2004. This explains the pay increase, and the piece work attitude.
The new contract was also designed to encourage new GPs to join the NHS instead of just joining a private health firm, which would probably cost a patient more money and contibute to the collapse of the NHS sooner.
To say that this contributes to the NHS, is not entirely accurate, although the new contractual services do cost more money, it's the pointless restructuring of the NHS as a whole that wastes millions of pounds every year!
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sttomas
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 12:16
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It should be noted that Opticians, Dentists and Pharmacists also have new contracts.
One of the ideas surrounding these is to relieve pressure from hospitals. For example, GPs can now perform Minor Surgery!!
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Jane
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 12:49
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'For example, GPs can now perform Minor Surgery!!'
I quite like that idea. When I was younger I had all sorts of minor stuff done by my GP at the surgery that today you need to go to a bloody hospital outpatient clinic for. Give GPs back their scalpels!
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sttomas
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 12:58
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I think that's part of the idea, spread the work about. Pharmacies can now review your medications amongst other things.
What irks me, as an NHS employee is that people are quick to jump up and complain how much GPs are getting paid, but have little, or no, idea of how much work they do. It's not a perfect system, but it's a lot better than waiting for hours at the hospital, after waiting 9 months for an appointment!!
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Jane
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 18, 2006, 14:10
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'but it's a lot better than waiting for hours at the hospital, after waiting 9 months for an appointment!!'
I agree. A couple of years ago I had to wait 10 months for an appointment and 2 weeks before the appointment the lump burst on its own. Yuk!
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Zastrozzi
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 27, 2006, 08:21
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It's also almost complete bollocks. As Phil Hammond said on The Now Show: "I get paid £40 per hour, so to earn £250,000 per year I'd have to work 120 hours a week. I did that when I was a junior doctor and I was so tired I ended up killing lots of patients, so they don't let me do it anymore...'
A very few Partners in prescribing practices (the ones with a pharmacy attached) might be making that. The rest aren't.
My other half is a GP and, as you might expect, has a view on this. Yes, she makes around £70k. She had to spend TEN YEARS, making fuck-all money, studying her arse off and working literally all the hours god sends, to get to that point. If you average out the amount she's made over the last fifteen years she'd have been better off working in McDonalds.
Plus, she does a job where she has people's lives in her hands every day, and if she gets it wrong just once, she can be struck off and lose her entire livelihood. She gets abuse and attitude from many of her patients (inner city practice, patients are either addicts or spoiled rich kids at Uni).
But the real point here is that the govrnment are desperate to turn the people against the medical profession, because they have to disable the medical profession so that it doesn't tell the public what a bunch of useless rseholes the government is.
A few weeks ago, we had a story about junior doctors getting their conditions improved, but consultants not getting the same thing. This is straight out of The Prince by Macchiavelli - chapter one.
Don't trust anything the government says - or feeds the media - about doctors.
Zxi
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Cleira
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 27, 2006, 12:25
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Don't worry, Zastrosi, I don't think anyone here trusts ANYthing that the government says about anything.
I don't have a problem with dr's being paid a good wage, wish nurses got better pay too. However, I do have a problem with Chris Moyles being paid over £630,000.
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Vybik Jon
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Re: £250,000 GPs
Apr 27, 2006, 13:05
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"However, I do have a problem with Chris Moyles being paid over £630,000."
Yeah! It's not nearly enough, is it?
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