‘In my 30 years as a GP, the profession has been horribly eroded’(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
‘In my 30 years as a GP, the profession has been horribly eroded’
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/22/my-30-years-as-gp-profession-horribly-eroded-clare-gerada
11 comments
"Today, unlike 30 years ago, all patients are strangers and, as my catchment area now extends into different London boroughs, even the places I go are unfamiliar."
Well, health (or 'disease control') is a business unfortunately. Doctors are just a small cog in that machine - they are effectively big pharma sales people.
Well, health (or 'disease control') is a business unfortunately. Doctors are just a small cog in that machine - they are effectively big pharma sales people.
> they are effectively big pharma sales people.
No they are not; At least not in the UK.
When I was young, My GP was a kind and caring man. I remember him asking my mum how my siblings were, recalling their previous visits.
As a grown up, When I manage to get an appointment they are STILL remarkably effective,-- albeit clearly over-worked and trying to make up time.
More recently it has been impossible for me to make appointments for my parents due to long term under-funding, and covid.
>Well, health (or 'disease control') is a business unfortunately.
This type of thinking in UK social care is exactly what has caused the decline of public health. Politicians and business management have ruined the caring aspect of the NHS through constant budget cuts and medical policies. -- And then they have the gall to claim the NHS isn't fit for purpose.
The whole situation makes me rather distressed. Luckily I am 'well-off' now and look after my parents as best as I can.
No they are not; At least not in the UK.
When I was young, My GP was a kind and caring man. I remember him asking my mum how my siblings were, recalling their previous visits.
As a grown up, When I manage to get an appointment they are STILL remarkably effective,-- albeit clearly over-worked and trying to make up time.
More recently it has been impossible for me to make appointments for my parents due to long term under-funding, and covid.
>Well, health (or 'disease control') is a business unfortunately.
This type of thinking in UK social care is exactly what has caused the decline of public health. Politicians and business management have ruined the caring aspect of the NHS through constant budget cuts and medical policies. -- And then they have the gall to claim the NHS isn't fit for purpose.
The whole situation makes me rather distressed. Luckily I am 'well-off' now and look after my parents as best as I can.
It may be possible for persons to be "doctors", provide medical advice and care for others, without being a part of the "medical establishment". Call yourself a chiropractor, or say you're practicing "alternative medicine".
I certainly don't want to visit any building where modern medicine is committed, now; and have no faith in the good will (much less ability) of anyone who voluntarily associates themselves with that profession. Even the good people that are there have had their hands tied and their minds broken.
I certainly don't want to visit any building where modern medicine is committed, now; and have no faith in the good will (much less ability) of anyone who voluntarily associates themselves with that profession. Even the good people that are there have had their hands tied and their minds broken.
That's great to say until you have a bad skin infection that won't go away. Or you need a few millimetres shaved off a bone in your middle ear to restore your hearing. Or you need a stent in your heart.
In fact, for all the flaws with medicine, everyone in my immediate family including myself would be dead today without it. Just a few years ago I watched my mother who I had found unconscious on the floor basically come back to life with artificial stents in her heart to restore the blood flow after the heart attack that should have killed her. I myself stopped breathing on my own when I was five from pneumonia. Fortunately I was in a hospital at the time. I cannot ever fully express my gratitude to the doctors and other workers for these gifts.
In fact, for all the flaws with medicine, everyone in my immediate family including myself would be dead today without it. Just a few years ago I watched my mother who I had found unconscious on the floor basically come back to life with artificial stents in her heart to restore the blood flow after the heart attack that should have killed her. I myself stopped breathing on my own when I was five from pneumonia. Fortunately I was in a hospital at the time. I cannot ever fully express my gratitude to the doctors and other workers for these gifts.
15 years ago, I had my gall bladder removed. I'm appropriately grateful to the medical practitioners who assisted me with that. Even though they kept telling me it was constipation for 3 years until I demanded an ultrasound; even though they made me wait 3mo after that ultrasound "to see if it gets better. and try not to move around to vigorously or it could burst and kill you."
My last visit to a doctor, they told me that my diagnosis of my condition "sounds right", but that I can't afford a diagnosis and they refuse to do any testing. They will cheerfully provide me with any of several drugs that might make life more tolerable, but also likely shorter.
My experience with the medical establishment has been uniformly negative. People I know are much more fond of medicine, but as far as I can see they're being served no better. They just can't admit to themselves that they might be better off without it.
My last visit to a doctor, they told me that my diagnosis of my condition "sounds right", but that I can't afford a diagnosis and they refuse to do any testing. They will cheerfully provide me with any of several drugs that might make life more tolerable, but also likely shorter.
My experience with the medical establishment has been uniformly negative. People I know are much more fond of medicine, but as far as I can see they're being served no better. They just can't admit to themselves that they might be better off without it.
Is it your claim that an alternative care provider somehow has the ability to affordably perform the tests you can't afford from a medical provider?
I don’t think I understand what you are saying. Are you saying they shouldn’t have removed your gall bladder?
No, they're saying they had three years of destroyed life and misery because of refusal to treat/inability to find practitioners willing to treat.
As someone who has experienced similar, this was the first detail I spotted — how long it takes to get doctors to take you seriously, even if you have some clues and don't make assumptions, just ask for help, can be absurd.
They blame it on other people being hypochondriacs + WebMD, overtaxed offices... I blame it on treating symptoms instead of forging healthy people. Which is what the AMA does, more or less.
As someone who has experienced similar, this was the first detail I spotted — how long it takes to get doctors to take you seriously, even if you have some clues and don't make assumptions, just ask for help, can be absurd.
They blame it on other people being hypochondriacs + WebMD, overtaxed offices... I blame it on treating symptoms instead of forging healthy people. Which is what the AMA does, more or less.
Sounds like it wasn't diagnosed; they had to request and push for tests that resulted in the removal.
I felt angry. Why had the hospital not arranged care before discharging her? Covid had meant that many patients were discharged as quickly as possible to clear beds for the expected surge but without, it seems, a thought as to what provision they needed in the coming days. That evening, I was all there was. My only option was to suggest a transfer back to hospital, to a busy accident and emergency department. I, but more importantly the system, had failed her in her final hours of need. My deep shame was hidden behind my mask.
I don't understand - is a home-visiting GP not authorized or able to give a painkiller prescription, or place a syringe driver? Why was her only option a hospital transfer?