What is the point of GPs

[Caretak3r]

Thank 13 years of Tories! Don't want to come over all political as don't think this is the place for all that and this is a nice break from all that misery.
But, these are Simple Facts!

[Nigel]

Fortunately I haven`t needed to see a doctor for a long while, had my annual MOT in August but never heard anything back so presume I`m not going to die As for NHS dentist forget it! haven`t been for a few years for various reasons and I now have to go private with the same dentist, £188 a filling I know other people in this area (Norfolk) can`t get a NHS dentist and I heard of a new practice opening up who applied to do NHS and were refused. Basically Dentistry is being privatised and not available on NHS, bearing in mind that dentists don`t just check for fillings but the overall health of your mouth and they can (hopefully) catch cancer early, a lot of health problems are going to be missed because people can`t afford a dentist.

[Swatch]

Sorry, not being rude, but ask yourself, who did you vote for?

And yes, before you think about asking it! The answer is yes it is politics that trumps all.

I'm sorry I usually bite my tongue but I just can't. Like another poster here said "it's the Tories". So, not in any way related to Labours big cash injection in the late 90's giving GP's a huge pay increase, letting them refuse out of hours calls, visits etc. Directly after which getting to see a GP was like getting an audience with the pope and has been ever since? No, no its all the Tories fault right? Nothing to do with massive PFI contracts (500 billion debt for 55 B worth of goods) under Labour in the 2000's locking schools and hospitals into decades of debt with no way out and leaving them underfunded. Billions spent on the Connecting for Health IT system (never worked but a lot of people got rich, where have I heard that before). By the time Labour left power, incredibly a majority of all voters trusted the Tories to run the NHS in favour of Labour. I mean Labour tried, they really did but just pouring money into a monolithic organisation had the same outcome it always does. Whatever the Tories had done after wouldn't really matter, the opposition would just regurgitate it's "Tories selling off the NHS" line that's easy to swallow and easy to print.
Those sneaky Tories always trying to privatise the NHS? Oh, who actually started the process of NHS privatisation? Here's a clue:

"2000 New Labour’s NHS Plan introduces private provision of medical services into the NHS for the first time to ‘modernise’ and ‘reform’ its practices. Routine planned surgery, diagnostic tests and procedures are contracted out to private sector treatment centres at greater cost than the same care on the NHS." Source https://www.yournhsneedsyou.com/timeline/

Please feel free to champion your own political choice by all means but just saying "it's the Tories wot done it" as an answer to every bad thing is lazy and doesn't hold the right people to account. A more accurate saying might be "politicians aren't best placed to run a structure like the NHS" but that'd never fit on a placard and wouldn't suit the political narrative either side want to push for their own ends.

And breath.....

[twiglets]

I love this site The country voted in the current party (careful- you may have voted for another but the democratic way we do it means we currently have Tories)- the country will vote in the next one- if it changes then they won't alter all that has been agreed to, they will only adjust a few bits, spend our money in a different way, and either tax us differently or borrow the money differently. There is a fundamental change- NHS is being reduced in favour of a private, Multi tier system, and all parties will agree to it.

[Sgtspite1968]

Zero face-to-face appointments in my locale down south.
Ask for one, and they would laugh you out of the surgery.

We are told, call after 08:00 each day, but by 08:01 guess what?

All appointments are gone!

[Vera]

The current state of the NHS is dire, whether you think the demise is anecdotal or deliberate by government is up to you, but the fact remains we are rapidly heading for a 2 tier health system.

Now the political bit.

It may seem to you that all the problems stem from earlier governments doing certain things and there is some truth in this.
You may feel this to be a deliberate act by other governments to force the NHS out of existence so it then becomes something they neither have to govern, fund or be held accountable for.
It is true we are all responsible as we collectively voted the current government into power, BUT, and its a big but. The current government are the ones with the power to sort this out and to reverse (if necessary) the mistakes of the past, this is particularly the case when the government in question has been in power for 13 Years (more than long enough to sort out the NHS).

But face the facts, in all the time that I have been alive, this is the worse the NHS has ever been, people are and will die because of delays in getting medical help delays in treatment or simply because of delays getting to a hospital in an ambulance (if you are unlucky enough to need one).

This isn't some mindless public sector "business" that is subjected to political whimsy, this is literally life or death.

[TheTaker]

I think you can argue the facts about politicians but there is one fact everyone seems to miss. The NHS has kept people alive for longer than in previous centuries would of happened thus putting more strain on themselves every year. This may sound heartless but trust me i talk as someone who would of been dead a century ago the nhs greatest achievement is its largest downfall keeping people alive longer gives a larger aging population which in turn causes more strain with less going in. Im not saying what there doing is wrong as i have already said without them i would be dead, but the fact remains its not sustainable in its current version without increasing taxes which no one wants but i for one would rather they did it by 2% now than 10% five years down the line.
I await the disagreement