david junior

This is the plight of the NHS........I received a leaflet offering me free Gym membership at the Fusion, with all their marketing buzz words and I don't know if you noticed but the leaflet had the Southwark PCT logo on it. Then I read an article in the South London Press that they were reviewing their Gp consultations as they felt a number of these could be dealt with by a nurse. http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/00,news,8709,440,00.htm follow the link in January when (quote from the aricle): Dr Jane Fryer, Southwark?s Health and Social Care Medical Director, said: "We have now met with Concordia Health, who have given their assurance that delivering the highest and safest quality of care to their patients is their first priority. We will continue to monitor the situation and meet with Concordia Health to make sure that this remains the case." Then another article appears in May 2008: Under-fire surgery: 'It's working fine' Tuesday, 27 May 2008 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Some patients have reported problems with the system - By Lindsay Burns A PILOT telephone booking scheme for a doctors? surgery has been panned despite health chiefs? claims of patient approval. Dozens of complaints have been posted on the East Dulwich Forum about a new system at Melbourne Grove Medical Centre where doctors decide if patients need appointments based on telephone interviews. A spokesman for Southwark Primary Care Trust (PCT) said it was aware of the concerns and was seeking quality assurances from Concordia, the company that runs the surgery. Under the scheme, callers are given a time when a doctor can phone them back but patients have reported delays and missed calls. Writing on the online forum, one said: ?Didn?t get to my phone between 10 and 10.30 and just got a message saying I?d have to call again to make another appointment for a phone call (now between 2 and 3 also). ?I complained on the phone that this process was ridiculous and the receptionist sounded like I wasn?t the first person to have told her this.? Concordia said it introduced the telephone system to make it ?quicker and easier? for the public to receive care and claimed a recent survey showed patient satisfaction. A spokesman said: ?A recent survey indicates that 75 per cent of patients who have used the new appointment system have been satisfied and have found receiving care to be quick and easy. ?This is an improvement from previous satisfaction figures of 44 per cent.? A PCT spokesman said: ?We are aware that some patients have expressed concerns about this new way of working and would like to reassure local people that our top priority at all times is ensuring that there is continuity of high quality patient care. ?We are seeking ongoing reassurance from Concordia that they are providing this.? If anyone has any concerns about the service they can call the Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0800 58 77 170. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To quote from the above article: A spokesman said: ?A recent survey indicates that 75 per cent of patients who have used the new appointment system have been satisfied and have found receiving care to be quick and easy. Is this a good measure and is this good enough when our Government forced GP surgeries to open later with extended sessions eventhough about 85% of all patients were satisfied with opening times. Should the same principle not be applied here and how many patients does 75% reflect exactly - if you survey 1000 patients out of a list of 7000 and 75% are satisfied that is 750 patients out of 7000 is actually only really 11%. What I would be interested to know is how would the PCT regulate a practice impartially. Those involved in approving Concordia as a preferred provider over a bid put together by the good GPs of the practice (who strived very hard to make improvements at the practice whilst it was under PCT management, only later to be told that their bid was unsuccessful)are the same people who would have to performance manage the practice. Surely if the practice is failing would this not be a reflection on their ability and do you not think these individuals would do everything in their power to support the practice so that it does not fail? I think that a private provider would in the first instance look at profits and patient care in the process may come second - look at the problems at Melbourne Grove, simple things like a light bulb in one of the toilets has not been changed for months and cleanliness, well I do not think it is of a standard for a practice that is 'innovative' I wonder when the gains disappear....would the private provider status still be viable. Maybe then all consulations would be by email...........god help our elderly people and terminallt ill citizens who need the service most. By this time for patients like us it may be too late and the infrastructure will be in tatters so the only choice will be private! I THINK ITS TIME TO VOTE WITH OUR FEET! I am moving to a smaller practice where the care is more personalised and I can get an appointment within 48 hours as is the government standard. I am sure smaller more traditionally inclined practices will have their own issues and finacial contraints but at least one can see a GP of ones choice.