Scaremongering Over Clinic is Totally Wrong
I read with interest the very detailed and very long letter from Lib Dem Dr Charles West in the 21st January Chronicle. Of course it is vital to debate the best approach to local health provision, Dr West appears to think a solely GP led primary care service is best. The NHS considered a mix of provision better, as not everyone can, or wants to, access all their health care just via their local GP.
But what I feel is wrong and very unhelpful is the scaremongering content of his letter. He tries to link his opposition to the new Shropshire Walk-In Health Centre in Monkmoor, to a tragic patient death in Cambridgeshire involving a German doctor. Of course even one death due to a doctor’s medical error is too many, but this is sadly not the first such case.
The NHS has employed lots of foreign doctors for many years, and indeed relies on these professionals to provide the service in many areas. However this tragic case has nothing to do with the new Shropshire Walk-In Health Centre, and in my opinion it is very wrong to needlessly scare local residents in this way just because he opposes this new facility.
The NHS as we all know has many competing demands on its finances. Nurses and front line support staff directly employed by the NHS work long hours for relatively low pay.
What many people do not appreciate is that GPs are not directly employed by the NHS. They are in fact self employed, paid under a medical services contract with the NHS, providing in many cases their own surgery premises for which they claim property costs reimbursement from the NHS. Therefore the NHS must carefully balance requests from GPs against other priorities in the system.
However, where the system could be tightened up considerably is to investigate the use of outside advisors, on non-medical matters, who often charge very high fees to the NHS.
Fees and charges for such people as management consultants and IT consultants, who can charge up to £100 per hour, are a heavy cost to bear for the NHS.
