A
few weeks ago, I received an e-mail via this newspaper’s office. It came from a
local resident who knew me from many years ago when we were both serving Queen
and Country. (Well, ok, I admit that much of that was whilst also enjoying a
weekend or two under green canvas out in the English countryside, or suffering
the rigours of postings to far-flung places like Gibraltar. Nonetheless, our
spirit was in it.)
Anyway,
this old acquaintance of mine had taken the kindly trouble to write with his
own reflections regarding the National Health Service and the selfless
dedication of those who enter the caring professions; this being sparked by his
own knowledge of a young person set upon entering the medical profession. As
someone whose retirement is sitting on the horizon, it is reassuring to me to
know that enthusiastic young people are likely to be qualifying as doctors just
at the time when I might need them in my dotage. However, in true
Ronnie-Corbett-style, I digress. The point is that the e-mail ended with the
following comment: ‘I'd be grateful if you could give a firm and well-deserved
pat on the back to all serving "medics" in your excellent column’.
Humbly forgoing the reference to my column, I therefore hereby thank you for
your gracious words, kind Sir, on behalf of all my Northern Lincolnshire
medical and nursing colleagues.
The
reason I have chosen to include my reader-correspondent’s comment this week is
that it times well with the publication of the findings of a review by the
Commonwealth Fund International Surveys, called ‘How Does the UK Perform?
Improving the Quality of Primary Care: An International Perspective’. This
presents a very different picture of Primary Care (General Practice) to that
constantly being put about by politicians hell-bent on undermining the morale
of health professionals in general, and GPs in particular. The findings make
for interesting reading and should offer some reassurance to our community that
we (the doctors and nurses) really are trying our best on your behalf.
Whilst
noting that the NHS is not particularly good when it comes to easy
communication across the various sites of the NHS, or in respect to the time
available to spend with patients, it did have the following positive comments:
Compared
to other countries, the NHS has the second lowest health
spending per capita; the
lowest ‘cost related access problems’ to primary care; the joint best same or next day access to general practitioners; the least
difficulty in accessing out of hours care without needing to attend A&E; the best access
to out of hours care (with noticeable improvement in recent years); the highest access to
online repeats and appointments; the least hassle in getting patients needed medications or
treatment; the highest scores for management of chronic diseases; is joint second
in use of information technology; and is highest in reviewing patient data and outcomes. The review
concluded in stating that the UK stands out and performs at the top (or near the top) of the
range for many of the above aspects of care.
So, ‘serving medics’, there is your public pat on
the back as requested from my correspondent. Well done. Now get off your laurels
and go back to work…
First published in the
Scunthorpe Telegraph, 9 May 2013
© Copyright Robert M Jaggs-Fowler
2013
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