Doctors 'being paid not to give out antibiotics'

Kronos

Kronos

Kronos

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...s-being-paid-not-to-give-out-antibiotics.html

Why are they being paid extra for what should ge good practice? Though a spokes for the BMA actually blamed us the patients for constantly badgering our GP's for antibiotics. Now when I go to see my GP I pretty much leave it up to him to A) Diagnose what is wrong with me and B) The most effective treatment to deal with deal with my condition. I have never "badgered' my GP for an antibiotic because I am not a doctor so consequently unable to know whether antibiotics are tge correct treatment for whatever condition ails me.

I suspect most of us will pretty much leave to your doctor to decide whether you need an antibiotic or not, or are you a badger?

On the other hand I have met doctors that have handed out antibiotics like they were sweets for every and all conditions from a severed leg to a tickly cough.

But yet again it is us the patient fault and when all we hear is how financial pressures on our health service have reached crisis point how can find money to reward GP's for doing something that is essentially their job.
 
I dunno. If it saves money and needlessly handing them out for everything "in the long run" then its worth it.

Sure they should probably be better at their job but the world is a strange place and works in mysterious ways.
 
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is increasing due to their popularity, this poses a global treatment problem. I'd imagine this is why doctors are being incentivised not to prescribe them as much.
 
Kronos said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...s-being-paid-not-to-give-out-antibiotics.html

Why are they being paid extra for what should ge good practice? Though a spokes for the BMA actually blamed us the patients for constantly badgering our GP's for antibiotics. Now when I go to see my GP I pretty much leave it up to him to A) Diagnose what is wrong with me and B) The most effective treatment to deal with deal with my condition. I have never "badgered' my GP for an antibiotic because I am not a doctor so consequently unable to know whether antibiotics are tge correct treatment for whatever condition ails me.

I suspect most of us will pretty much leave to your doctor to decide whether you need an antibiotic or not, or are you a badger?

On the other hand I have met doctors that have handed out antibiotics like they were sweets for every and all conditions from a severed leg to a tickly cough.

But yet again it is us the patient fault and when all we hear is how financial pressures on our health service have reached crisis point how can find money to reward GP's for doing something that is essentially their job.
Click to expand...

Are you a columnist for the Daily Mail?

A large proportion of GP's pay is performance related and contingent on them meeting a number of targets which change year by year. They're not getting extra money for this, it's just that it has been added to the vast number of targets that GPs all have to meet.

Beyond that, a lot of patients do demand antibiotics, particularly mothers wanting treatment for their sick children. If a GP prescribes antibiotics, he has to be able to come back and justify the reason for prescribing them in case something goes wrong, so they don't just throw them out recklessly.

Although the newspapers would have you believe that GPs are the enemy and they sit on a massive pile of cash, it's not the case. This target is one amongst many others that get piled on them every year and increase their work load. Job satisfaction within the profession is lower than it's ever been.
 
My (thankfully ex-) brother-in-law used to hound his doctor constantly whenever he got anything wrong with him (my 'favourite' being when he got a runny nose from a hot curry and immediately started badgering for antibiotics). Given that he would visit the doctor at least once a week and was a grade A douche, I'm not surprised the poor guy gave in. He's only a human being, after all.
 
Kronos said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...s-being-paid-not-to-give-out-antibiotics.html

Why are they being paid extra for what should ge good practice? Though a spokes for the BMA actually blamed us the patients for constantly badgering our GP's for antibiotics. Now when I go to see my GP I pretty much leave it up to him to A) Diagnose what is wrong with me and B) The most effective treatment to deal with deal with my condition. I have never "badgered' my GP for an antibiotic because I am not a doctor so consequently unable to know whether antibiotics are tge correct treatment for whatever condition ails me.

I suspect most of us will pretty much leave to your doctor to decide whether you need an antibiotic or not, or are you a badger?

On the other hand I have met doctors that have handed out antibiotics like they were sweets for every and all conditions from a severed leg to a tickly cough.

But yet again it is us the patient fault and when all we hear is how financial pressures on our health service have reached crisis point how can find money to reward GP's for doing something that is essentially their job.
Click to expand...

You didn't check the article date before posting?

I wish there was some form of basic IQ test (a puzzle or something that then reveals the submit button) before being allowed to post a thread in GD.
 
checjb said:
My (thankfully ex-) brother-in-law used to hound his doctor constantly whenever he got anything wrong with him (my 'favourite' being when he got a runny nose from a hot curry and immediately started badgering for antibiotics). Given that he would visit the doctor at least once a week and was a grade A douche, I'm not surprised the poor guy gave in. He's only a human being, after all.
Click to expand...

Thats what Placebo's should be used for
 
Richdog said:
You didn't check the article date before posting?

I wish there was some form of basic IQ test (a puzzle or something that then reveals the submit button) before being allowed to post a thread in GD.
Click to expand...

Hmm OK the article was from some years ago but the substance was mentioned on the BBC News channel at around 3:30 am and unless I travelled back in time it would still seem to be relevant.
 
GPs are paid based on their performance in many many area of patient are.

This is a total non news story.

GPS are human and need a bit of prodding and goals to guide practice. This is what the QOF framework was about.
 
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The problem is knowing when it's really necessary.

We've cut down anibiotic prescribing in tonsillitis ad chest infections substantially in the hope of reducing resistance but have seen a small rise in serious complication such as Pneumococcal empyemas which are really quite nasty.
 
Minstadave said:
The problem is knowing when it's really necessary.

We've cut down anibiotic prescribing in tonsillitis ad chest infections substantially in the hope of reducing resistance but have seen a small rise in serious complication such as Pneumococcal empyemas which are really quite nasty.
Click to expand...

My mother-in-law suffers from asthma and is subject to chest infections. With 1/2 collapsed lung, recovery without them is very very hard causing fatigue. They refused to give her any last time which was abysmal really!

They can't just blanket this cut back but they don't seem overly clever with getting it right either.
 
bloodiedathame said:
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is increasing due to their popularity, this poses a global treatment problem. I'd imagine this is why doctors are being incentivised not to prescribe them as much.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that is what they want you to believe.
The truth is, sick people generate money, curing people doesn't.
 
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