09 May 2008

Darziaster

If Dr Grumble was in charge and he wanted to get the best value for money out of the NHS, he would pour cash into the traditional general practice. It is utterly obvious that this is the sensible way forward. What you do not want is loads of dumbed down staff with access to a mottley collection of special tests in a polyclinic. That is never going to be cost effective. What patients need is a good doctor who knows them with common sense not an itinerant sub-doctor with access to investigations. Medicine is about taking a history, examining the patient, knowing the patient and thinking. It's not about protocols and liberal tests. It really isn't. Patients might want tests but that is not always what they need. So why is our government doing this? If these polyclinics are about money, it just does not make sense. Or does it? The answer is hidden here.

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