Are GPs useless?

Okay, so i had a chest x-ray, a spirometry thing and one of those 11 pr1ck (why's it a filtered out word? some of us want to use it legitimately) allergy test things today. They wrote a load of stuff down but now i gotta wait 2 months for a lung scan. :/
 
-too little time for each patient
-limited funding for investigations (eg costs of xray, mri etc)
-limited funding for services (referals to specialists)
-massive waiting times for specialists
-being human
-too many hypochondriac, malingerers, compo claimers

just a few of the many reasons why gps have a really difficult job. With an infinite pot of money they would send you for a full body mri, all the blood tests you could dream of and refer you straight to a specialist. Unfortunately if you want that kind of care you aint gonna get it on the NHS. As with every occupation there are good and bad so in terms of clinical skills you can't tar them all with the same brush. Yes, some ARE useless but some are excellent despite all of the above restrictions. It shouldn't be like this BUT IT IS so your options are do something about it, quit moaning, go private or change your vote to a political party that will invest [wisely] in the NHS as opposed to squeezing it to breaking point.
 
You know GP's don't make as much as people think.

Salaried GPs employed directly by PCTs earn between £53,781 to £81,158, dependent on, among other factors, length of service and experience.

Then the GP has to pay:
GMC membership at 500 pounds per year
MPS membership 6000 pounds per year !!!
Royal College of General Practitioners 500 pounds per year.

So a young GP can make as little as 46k before tax which when you consider they have spent 10 to 12 years training and now work 12 hours per day is not really that much. Its actually quite a hard job and there is a huge amount of paperwork involved.

GP's running their own practice do make more but you have to remember they are running a small business which involves a lot of work, not that many people would be willing to run a business with 5 to 6 stuff to make an extra 30 to 50k per year.
 
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McGraw said:
Last time I went to the doctor he took three times to take blood from me...very annoying and a little painful.
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Blame your pathetic veins?
You could land a 747 on some of my veins, could be taken from the back of my hand if needed, only issue with taking blood is if you hit a valve, can happen anyone.
Weak veins, small veins, being a blobbly monster, or nicely cold and nervous and constricted, all make things smaller.
 
Dr House said:
You know GP's don't make as much as people think.

Salaried GPs employed directly by PCTs earn between £53,781 to £81,158, dependent on, among other factors, length of service and experience.

Then the GP has to pay:
GMC membership at 500 pounds per year
MPS membership 6000 pounds per year !!!
Royal College of General Practitioners 500 pounds per year.

So a young GP can make as little as 46k before tax which when you consider they have spent 10 to 12 years training and now work 12 hours per day is not really that much. Its actually quite a hard job and there is a huge amount of paperwork involved.

GP's running their own practice do make more but you have to remember they are running a small business which involves a lot of work, not that many people would be willing to run a business with 5 to 6 stuff to make an extra 30 to 50k per year.
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I do believe most people fail to recognise that most GP surgeries are in fact small businesses, like any other, the moeny coming in thru the points system for hitting targets and the squeezing on those targets does add paperwork to the operation.

I recall one GP saying to me that if they tightened the target on cervical screening anymore it would be more cost effective for the practice to forget that that target and income source, as chasing up the 3-4 women who haven't bothered to attend no matter how many letters they have received simply isn't worth the income and they would be better aiming for a different target instead.

GPs are well paid in general, but the figures you see in the Daily mail are the gross income values, rarely are they even remotely close to the net.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
I do believe most people fail to recognise that most GP surgeries are in fact small businesses, like any other, the moeny coming in thru the points system for hitting targets and the squeezing on those targets does add paperwork to the operation.

I recall one GP saying to me that if they tightened the target on cervical screening anymore it would be more cost effective for the practice to forget that that target and income source, as chasing up the 3-4 women who haven't bothered to attend no matter how many letters they have received simply isn't worth the income and they would be better aiming for a different target instead.

GPs are well paid in general, but the figures you see in the Daily mail are the gross income values, rarely are they even remotely close to the net.
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Yep they really do not make the sort of money people think.

To given you an example a practice I know a bit about, it employs 6 people, the doctors wife is the practice manager and there is 80k left per year to split between the doctor and the practice manager after paying all the other staff and bills.

Its still not bad money but you could make more money opening up a small shop in the property.

Its possible to make 100k+ but its not easy and you have to really watch the costs.

Also don't forget that if the GP wants to go on holiday he has to pay for the locum out of his own pocket, so 4 week off per year will cost the GP 10k of his pay.
 
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Dr House said:
Also don't forget that if the GP wants to go on holiday he has to pay for the locum out of his own pocket, so 4 week off per year will cost the GP 10k of his pay.
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That's assuming it's not a multi-GP practice in which case they can cover for each other. There aren't that many single GP practices around. Only 1 of our 56 is and he's looking for a partner.
 
I think the point is that people wouldn't mind how high their salaries went, if the majority of GPs actually gave a flying **** about their patients or they didn't use Google. My personal experience echoes many others' in that I've had a small minority of excellent doctors and a large majority of practitioners that haven't been worth a damn.
 
Halfmad said:
That's assuming it's not a multi-GP practice in which case they can cover for each other. ...
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Presumably because GPs in large practices spend so much time twiddling their thumbs and praying for a patient to drop by and break up the monotony?

You really don't have a clue do you?

ps - Why do you describe yourself as only Halfmad :confused:


Edrof said:
... if the majority of GPs ... didn't use Google. ....
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How very, very true.

Things were so much better back in the day when GPs didn't have access to technology; in fact, we would all be better served if they didn't even rely on that newfangled electric stuff. Personally I believe that it all went down hill when that German Gutenberg bloke developed the printing press.

I can't imagine why you bother to go to the money-grabbing charlatans at all; why not just use the tried and tested ancient remedies to treat yourself?
 
You're right Stockhausen, there is nothing wrong with a well-trained medical practitioner resorting - I mean - researching a patient's symptoms. All this is also entirely relevant to the Gutenberg Press and trepanning.
 
Your last suggestion is a new one on me but I believe from an earlier thread that Makita make excellent drills if you feel brave enough to stray from your trusty brace and bit and here is a handy user guide:

325px-Hieronymus_Bosch_053_detail.jpg

Do please report back at your earliest convenience on your certain success :p
 
stockhausen said:
Presumably because GPs in large practices spend so much time twiddling their thumbs and praying for a patient to drop by and break up the monotony?

You really don't have a clue do you?

ps - Why do you describe yourself as only Halfmad :confused:
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Re-read what I actually added to the thread before you start acting like a child. I can't really make it any clearer and frankly think you've gotten the wrong end of the stick. I work with GPs every day, I actually respect most of them, at what point did you think otherwise?

All I said is that GPs can cover for each other, they are intelligent people able to manage their own workload, you on the old hand seem to have floated off on a tangent.
 
Well the GPs managed to sort me out reasonably well. Would have been nicer without the £23 prescription charges but cest la vie.
 
Halfmad said:
All I said is that GPs can cover for each other, they are intelligent people able to manage their own workload, you on the old hand seem to have floated off on a tangent.
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Indeed, my doctor was on holiday so I just saw one of he other practice doctors (who doesn't work Fridays meaning I then had to see another doctor!). However they passed all the required information between them so it was pretty seamless with only a minimal amount of repetition.
 
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