Cookie Notice

WE LOVE THE NATIONS OF EUROPE

However, this blog is a US service and this site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and analyze traffic. Your IP address and user-agent are shared with Google along with performance and security metrics to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics, and to detect and address abuse.

Friday, 18 March 2011

The problem with the NHS?

The following graph, from Market Oracle, hardly needs a comment. Labour's damage to our economy is deep seated and will cause much pain to untangle.

13 comments:

1) I'm not altogether sure where their numbers come from - my wife is a GP and she sure as hell doesn't earn anything close to £125k. Even the partners in her practice don't get close. So if they're correct, they're very cherry picked.

2) yes I have an interest - but why shouldn't GPs get paid more than MPs? To be a GP you have to go to med school and train for around 10 years. To our cost, we've found that any idiot (and many do) can be an MP.

I would like to see a graph showing the proportion of administrative staff compared to doctors and nurses, and the total wages for each. I suspect that is where the trouble lies, as in other organisations.

I think the miscreant was Sir Nigel Crisp. He was the chap that put up GP pay by bringing in an ill-thought out piece of legislation to make GPs work harder and longer. GP and hospital doctors weeks are broken into 10 sessions, 2 per day, obviously. Crisp paid per session to keep GPs out of private practice. All GPs did was ensure they claimed the full 10 sessions and then moved private work into out of hours and weekends. Hence they earn quite a lot, if they know how to play the game. And lets face it, Crisp made the game easy for them. Oh, and then Crisp resigned from the NHS, but not before the damage was irreparably done.

GP's work longer and harder? Not in my experience, not by a long chalk. I have to pre-book illness 3 weeks in advance to have any chance of seeing a doctor while they may do some good. I have recently been suffering intermittent pains in my head, see a doctor? No chance. Phone tomorrow the doctor may speak to you, if not we can fit you in 2 weeks on Tuesday.

2 weeks later;Doctor - "What is the problem"Me - "I have been getting intermittent pains in my head, they are quite debilitating"Doctor (After a little fumble and manipulation) Do you smoke?Me- "WTF"Doctor - "It is important that we know your lifestyle choices"Me - "I don't discuss lifestyle choices. What about my head pains"Doctor - "Is it sore now?"Me - "No"Doctor - "Well come back when it is."

MP benefits is the key. Yes, the salary might be lower, but the perks and illegal takings from illicit expense reimbursements more than make up for it. Plus for the MPs, all that illicitly taken booty is non-taxable reimbursement. MPs might not be as learned as GPs but when it comes to thieving money, they know full well how to rig the game in their favour.

MP benefits is the key. Yes, the salary might be lower, but the perks and illegal takings from illicit expense reimbursements more than make up for it. Plus for the MPs, all that illicitly taken booty is non-taxable reimbursement. MPs might not be as learned as GPs but when it comes to thieving money, they know full well how to rig the game in their favour. Especially Labour MPs.

"If I recall, the doctors were given a huge lump of money and told that they could do what they wanted with it. "

It was all politicians' lack of strategic skills. There was that, plus they basically offered GPs the option of giving up after hours care in exchange for a paycut of abut 10k or so. Naturally, GPs jumped at the chance...