Report to the People
10th March 2008
GP Deal is the Wrong Prescription
Last
week saw GPs angrily and reluctantly voting for the least worst option presented
to them by the government in the long-running dispute over their working hours.
While
the idea of seeing a GP outside office hours has attractions, especially for
commuters whose workplace may be many miles from their home and GP’s surgery,
I share some doctors’ concerns that the £9.5 million it reportedly took to
get this deal through could have been better spent.
The
real health challenge in Scotland is tackling the pockets of serious ill-health
which still blight communities like ours.
The
fact is that people living in the poorest areas have the poorest health.
But they also have the least access to GP services.
And, when they do see a GP, it will be for a shorter consultation and
with a less experienced doctor. So
is anyone really surprised that they suffer from more serious illnesses?
If
extra money is available, surely it should be spent addressing these health
inequalities, rather than making it easier for those who already access their GP
to continue to do so.
But,
worryingly, instead of focussing resources on those in most need, the
government’s new health funding formula is set to strip NHS Greater Glasgow
and Clyde of around £35.6 million a year.
Diverting funds away from areas like ours is a move in the wrong direction and will do nothing but perpetuate the inequalities which condemn too many to a shorter, sicker life.
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