The NHS I work in today, is completely unrecognisable from that which I qualified into 18 years ago.
If we are going to celebrate the NHS’s 80th birthday, as I surely hope we will, we need an honest debate between government and public around what the NHS is there for.
1/n
If we are going to celebrate the NHS’s 80th birthday, as I surely hope we will, we need an honest debate between government and public around what the NHS is there for.
1/n
It is there for our collective needs, not our collective wants.
Any student of business will know that to function, any organisation can hope to be quick, cheap or safe.
But not all at once. You get two out of the three, right?
Right.
2/n
Any student of business will know that to function, any organisation can hope to be quick, cheap or safe.
But not all at once. You get two out of the three, right?
Right.
2/n
We need urgent and emergency care to be quick and safe.
We need elective and planned care to be cheap and safe.
We need health promotion and prevention to be cheap and safe.
The priority here is safety.
Ideally delivered as close to home as we can.
3/n
We need elective and planned care to be cheap and safe.
We need health promotion and prevention to be cheap and safe.
The priority here is safety.
Ideally delivered as close to home as we can.
3/n
But what those of us working in the system see, is a relentless pursuit of the quick and the cheap.
And that’s not safe.
And that’s why you may have felt you’ve been dealt a rum deal by the NHS this past decade.
You haven’t. You’ve been dealt a rum deal by government.
4/n
And that’s not safe.
And that’s why you may have felt you’ve been dealt a rum deal by the NHS this past decade.
You haven’t. You’ve been dealt a rum deal by government.
4/n
If you want AI, apps, online consulting, premises fit for purpose, world class access to treatments & procedures from clinicians who are motivated, committed and relentlessly pursuing excellence in their daily practice….you’re going to need to pay for it, somehow, some way.
5/n
5/n
Take general practice. Our contract is funded on the premise you’ll visit your GP twice a year and need a home visit twice in your life - once to confirm your death.
We are at a critical moment post Covid.
Plan A needs to be to fund it properly.
6/n
We are at a critical moment post Covid.
Plan A needs to be to fund it properly.
6/n
Plan A will be the most cost effective and fairest approach.
Plan B could mean introducing e.g. reimbursable means-tested costs for episodic use, that could act as a deterrent to demand that is based upon want over need (think 5p bags).
7/n
Plan B could mean introducing e.g. reimbursable means-tested costs for episodic use, that could act as a deterrent to demand that is based upon want over need (think 5p bags).
7/n
Govt’s plan gaslighting patients into believing all is ok, their poor experience is an anomaly; & completely break the staff whose mental health suffers from trying to deliver the impossible, but then being told it’s not good enough.
This is the workforce/workload crisis.
8/n
This is the workforce/workload crisis.
8/n
A single trip to A&E costs c£400.
A single outpatient appt costs c£120.
Your GP receives around £100/yr to deliver an infinite number of appts, letters, blood requests, swab requests, XR/CT/MRI requests, calls, videos, texts…
I pay more to insure my pet…
9/n
A single outpatient appt costs c£120.
Your GP receives around £100/yr to deliver an infinite number of appts, letters, blood requests, swab requests, XR/CT/MRI requests, calls, videos, texts…
I pay more to insure my pet…
9/n
Only when we wake up & realise the horror of what we have collectively lost, when the premium for your health insurance arrives on your doormat, & you suddenly think maybe that £9 prescription cost was reasonable after all.
Worth a thought or two today.
#HappyBirthdayNHS
10/n
Worth a thought or two today.
#HappyBirthdayNHS
10/n
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