Lily Dove, 95, removed from doctors surgery list due to influx of new patients

antijoke · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:37

Lily Dove, 95, was among 1,500 people told they could no longer use the doctor’s surgery in Watton, Norfolk, which is struggling to cope with spiralling numbers as newcomers move to the area.

The same surgery, Watton Medical Practice, has also deregistered a wheelchair-bound 52-year old former soldier who has lost both legs due to severe diabetes.

Dave Pendry must now complete a 14-mile round trip to see his new GP in the village of East Harling.

This just makes me sick that this is happening!

Source 1

And our old favourite

Yes this highlights the much bigger issue of the lack of doctors, and it's not the fact it's migrant workers.

Why are these surgeries not just saying we cannot take on new patients?

D.P. · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:38

What is needed is more immigrant doctors

RedvGreen · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:41

It is a huge thing to contemplate.

Is it due to understaffing?
Is it due to blame culture?
Is it due to benefit culture?
Is it due to hypochondria?
Is it due to people naturally living longer?
Is it due to the requirement for 'Fit for Work' notes?
Is it due to immigrant populations adding to demands of the system?

It cannot really be down to finances as my understanding is that GPs recharge the NHS; and practice partners are very affluent (£100k++ a year).

Danthus · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:42

I can see the direction this is going.

Being serious though, the population is growing and it is questionable as to whether the national infrastructure is growing at a rate to accommodate the population.

Ryan-3 · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:43

Another nonsensical idea that aims to do the opposite of what it achieves.

Either that, or because immigrant. :rolleyes:

JeditOjanen · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:46

OldCoals said:
I can see the direction this is going.

Being serious though, the population is growing and it is questionable as to whether the national infrastructure is growing at a rate to accommodate the population.

It isn't. But this is not because immigrants are coming to the UK; it's because the Tories are set on crippling the NHS so they can sell it off for a pittance to their rich friends. A properly funded NHS could cope with the wave of immigration just as it's coped with the others, because as a taxpayer funded institution its potential available funding grows as the tax base grows.

alx · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:46

RedvGreen said:
It is a huge thing to contemplate.

Is it due to understaffing?
Is it due to blame culture?
Is it due to benefit culture?
Is it due to hypochondria?
Is it due to people naturally living longer?
Is it due to the requirement for 'Fit for Work' notes?
Is it due to immigrant populations adding to demands of the system?

It cannot really be down to finances as my understanding is that GPs recharge the NHS; and practice partners are very affluent (£100k++ a year).

Probably a combination of the above, it's rarely just one single root cause.

cheesyboy · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:53

Dave Pendry must now complete a 14-mile round trip to see his new GP in the village of East Harling.

Just checked a map

East Harling is 11 miles from Watton, where the original GP was. For his new journey to be 14 miles around, he must live AT LEAST 4 miles from Watton. Which means he has to drive or public transport an 8+ mile round trip anyway.

The real problem is lack of doctors: why aren't we training enough? We already import quite a lot of them, so must be falling a long way short of training requirement.

Danthus · 24 Jun 2014 at 12:59

JeditOjanen said:
It isn't. But this is not because immigrants are coming to the UK; it's because the Tories are set on crippling the NHS so they can sell it off for a pittance to their rich friends. A properly funded NHS could cope with the wave of immigration just as it's coped with the others, because as a taxpayer funded institution its potential available funding grows as the tax base grows.

Labour threw money at the NHS and look what happened in Stafford.

Burnsy2023 · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:06

OldCoals said:
Labour threw money at the NHS and look what happened in Stafford.

I don't see the relevance. The funding on that level will change the NHS on an organisational level, incidents such as Stafford have many root causes which are not connected to the funding.

Mynight · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:39

Labour threw money at everything.

I read this yesterday it disgusts me. Surely it should be last in first out.

Schlong&Stable · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:48

D.P. said:
What is needed is more immigrant doctors

What we need is to train more British doctors. Immigrant doctors have recently been criticised for not having the correct training and experience for the NHS, so we don't want more of them.

I am not sure I could be a doctor, as I am not that compassionate, but if I had another roll of the dice I would consider it. GP's in particular have it well once they manage to repay that big medical school cost.

Burnsy2023 · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:50

Thompson_NCL said:
What we need is to train more British doctors.

That's easier said than done. There are already all sorts of incentives to get people to become doctors like fully funded courses.

Cosimo · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:57

D.P. said:
What is needed is more immigrant doctors

Yes more immigrants.

In the short and medium term is the only solution.

balky12 · 24 Jun 2014 at 13:58

RedvGreen said:
Is it due to benefit culture?
Is it due to hypochondria?

Think this has a lot to do with it. Girlfriend's old job was at a local GP, only as a receptionist, but she said it was the same faces every week. Most of them had nothing wrong with them worthy of seeing a GP about, it was almost as if they were bored.

She also had a job at a walk in centre. Same people day in day out. A lot of homeless people, people on benefits, etc. Again, like they had nothing better to do. People trying to get prescription drugs was a big problem.

Funny enough though when the sun came out the majority of these people were no where to be seen.

Schlong&Stable · 24 Jun 2014 at 14:04

Burnsy2023 said:
That's easier said than done. There are already all sorts of incentives to get people to become doctors like fully funded courses.

I've no idea what the current career support is like in school, but when I was in school it was pretty dire. Incentives are coming at it from the wrong angle, because only people who have a pre-existing interest in medicine are likely to take notice of that anyway.

We need to get career guidance into schools much earlier and discuss the range of options that are available.

pitchfork · 24 Jun 2014 at 14:09

It's two things.

1. Irresponsible planning departments allowing poor quality houses to be built by unskilled labour on any old bit of land without the proper infrastructure in place, not only having an effect on the UK economy but screwing over the locals. Water, Power, Phones, Roads are only the tip of the iceberg, local services such as doctors are also stretched, not to mention building on greenbelt land is proven to affect the drainage of a number of communities causing flooding where it was not previously an issue.

2. Unnecessary NHS cuts being used to make it look like the NHS isn't working allowing the tory scum to privatize it in a few years. "But it isn't working guys" yeah, because you ****ed it up.

balky12 · 24 Jun 2014 at 14:10

Thompson_NCL said:
We need to get career guidance into schools much earlier and discuss the range of options that are available.

Is a big problem. I was offered no real career guidance until last year of college. So I have chosen my options for GCSE and my College A-level courses by this time. Then again, a lot of people don't really know what they want to be until they get to these stages, myself included.

Hyburnate · 24 Jun 2014 at 14:11

Thompson_NCL said:
I've no idea what the current career support is like in school, but when I was in school it was pretty dire. Incentives are coming at it from the wrong angle, because only people who have a pre-existing interest in medicine are likely to take notice of that anyway.

We need to get career guidance into schools much earlier and discuss the range of options that are available.

Yep but then the children are submerged by ideas and they don't know what they want, it was easier before because kids could get jobs and get a taste of what they want to do and grow up whilst still earning. Now kids in my areas school take their first GCSEs at like 13 or 14 and so by that point they need to know what they want to be doing 10yrs ahead. There's no time for kids to grow up anymore.

balky12 · 24 Jun 2014 at 14:15

pitchfork said:
Unnecessary NHS cuts being used to make it look like the NHS isn't working allowing the tory scum to privatize it in a few years. "But it isn't working guys" yeah, because you ****ed it up.

I would argue it probably wasn't working that well when Labour was in charge. It was mainly used as a vehicle to improve unemployment figures. Lets put everyone in middle management on a public sector salary. Ta da, 'NHS investment' and reduced unemployment. At one point i think managers was increasing like 5x quicker than the number of nurses, and they had like 3x the ratio to what any company on the private sector would have had.