I wonder if part of the current pressure on hospitals is caused by the primary sector (i.e. GP practices) copping out of much of the work they would have undertaken in former years?
An example from yesterday. Mrs A and I were walking through a small Wiltshire town. There was sort of 'crump' from behind us, and an elederly lady had just fallen over on the pavement. We picked her up and took her into a nearby tea-room as somewhere for her to sit down. She was clearly very shaken...and it soon emerged that she had a nasty bump on her head. The tea-room staff (who were very kind and helpful) said that we ought perhaps to take her to the local GP surgery which was just around the corner. This we did. Two indifferent receptionists, neither of whom made eye contact, were sitting behind a desk. I explained the situation. "All falls and bumps on the head go to A&E in Bath", one of them muttered. I explained that as Bath was 25 miles away and that we were not related to the casualty, we really would be most grateful if someone could take a look at her injuries. "Oh I suppose one of the nurses could see her", she sighed. "Take a seat". This we did. It transpired that the lady in question was (a) one of their patients (b) had lost her husband a few days ago and (c) had left her car with an hour's ticket in the paying car-park...a fact which was clearly preying on her mind.
The nurse arrived in due course. She ordered an ambulance. I drove the lady's car to her home about a mile away. None of the GPs had seen her.
OK, I know they are probably bogged down with computers, ticking boxes and so on. But where is the simple humanity that a medical practitioner (even in pre-NHS days) used to have?
I have heard from others that many GPs nowadays, as a matter of course, send everyone off to A&E for the slightest thing that involves more than writing a prescription. Surely these highly-trained people should be doing more at the primary care end of the system?
An example from yesterday. Mrs A and I were walking through a small Wiltshire town. There was sort of 'crump' from behind us, and an elederly lady had just fallen over on the pavement. We picked her up and took her into a nearby tea-room as somewhere for her to sit down. She was clearly very shaken...and it soon emerged that she had a nasty bump on her head. The tea-room staff (who were very kind and helpful) said that we ought perhaps to take her to the local GP surgery which was just around the corner. This we did. Two indifferent receptionists, neither of whom made eye contact, were sitting behind a desk. I explained the situation. "All falls and bumps on the head go to A&E in Bath", one of them muttered. I explained that as Bath was 25 miles away and that we were not related to the casualty, we really would be most grateful if someone could take a look at her injuries. "Oh I suppose one of the nurses could see her", she sighed. "Take a seat". This we did. It transpired that the lady in question was (a) one of their patients (b) had lost her husband a few days ago and (c) had left her car with an hour's ticket in the paying car-park...a fact which was clearly preying on her mind.
The nurse arrived in due course. She ordered an ambulance. I drove the lady's car to her home about a mile away. None of the GPs had seen her.
OK, I know they are probably bogged down with computers, ticking boxes and so on. But where is the simple humanity that a medical practitioner (even in pre-NHS days) used to have?
I have heard from others that many GPs nowadays, as a matter of course, send everyone off to A&E for the slightest thing that involves more than writing a prescription. Surely these highly-trained people should be doing more at the primary care end of the system?
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