When you're a piece of antiquity like the Dame the doctor's surgery becomes an antique restorer.
The other day the old thing was in her lovely NHS surgery and happened to ask how many 'no shows' without notification occurred.
The charming young doctor pondered and thought about 200 a month.
This was just one NHS surgery....there are nearly seven and a half thousand NHS surgeries in the UK so a simple extrapolation gives a frightening statistic of millions of wasted appointments.
The people who don't even bother to ring the surgery to cancel an appointment are probably the very people who whine about never being able to get an appointment.
There should be a stiff fine for not notifying the surgery and if that doesn't work a ban.
Can't do that....deprivation of their human rights to f***k people around whenever they feel like it
ReplyDeleteToo many people take the NHS for granted. Because it is free!
ReplyDeleteHigh time the Government starts to charge a small fee for doctors visits. Say £10 a time. This is the way to establish respect for the service, and responsible use
Not a bad idea. NHS needs more cash. This could be an alternative to increasing tax.
DeleteDent Coad won't like the idea of charging.
DeleteTime to penalise....fatties....smokers and heavy drinkers....they are a pain in the ass and cost us a bomb
ReplyDeleteSo should we charge people for use of the NHS if they have had an accident because they have not looked properly when crossing the road.
DeleteVested interests in the NHS (such as the GP lobby) need to be overcome in order to make the service fit for purpose. The Dame needs to step outside her tunnel vision
ReplyDeletehttps://uk-mg42.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.partner=bt-1#mail
Sorry, can you run that past us again?
Deletehttps://uk-mg42.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.partner=bt-1#mail
DeleteREAD THE BLOG
Instead of getting petulant why don't YOU trying reading the blog with the link you sent. It doesn't work.
DeleteCharging a fee would entail the administration of it - which might be unproductive. This is the fault of the Society, having very little respect for what they have. They would soon realised if it went away.
ReplyDeleteThe GP keeps the fee - no admin cost. His NHS grant reduced by 50% of the fee the GP is permitted to charge. Up to the GP what he wants to do. He can charge the full fee and give a better service (because he gets more money). He can charge half and give the same service. Or he can charge the full fee for most customers and use his discretion not to charge some patients who he judges to be in financial difficulty.
DeleteWin win. Patients will respect what they have been getting for "free". GP gets more money. No admin costs.
Stick to the point. This story is about "no show" patients. The solution is to strike them off if they fail to show up more than twice in a twelve month period.
ReplyDeleteSome hospitals already do this. Works a treat.
Anon15:25 - exactly so.
ReplyDelete