Wednesday 25 February 2009

Odds and Sods







Couple of things. First if you have not read the PCT list: New Labour’s NHS legacy part 2 posted 2 February on the Ferret Fancier's blog then it is an excellent list of the dead wood that are the Thickerazzi at any PCT. Ask yourself how many of them treat patients? The picture above shows the list printed out and our staff have read it and cannot believe some of the jobs on it. They can however relate to the level of ability of those likely to be one the list and the fact that they are getting paid more to do less than those on the front line.

Compare that list with a list of staff we employ to treat 10,000 patients:

GPs
Practice nurses
Health Care assistants
Practice manager
Assistant practice manager
Receptionists
Secretaries
Cleaners

Even if you multiply the above list by 10 to treat 100,000 patients the size of the local PCT you still do not get a list as long as the Ferrets. Remember it is your taxes that are paying for that list and the impressive do nothing titles on it.

The other thing that the Ferret Fancier has posted, 6 February, is regarding PCTs being branded “incapable and useless”. If you look at the original document Health Committee-First Report NHS Next Stage Review on the section on PCTs and read paragraphs 38-40 you can see that MPs have realized what ND and team realized well over a year ago that Practice Based Commissioning is going nowhere fast.

It is the Titanic going dead slow ahead towards the inevitable iceberg of oblivion under the command of the many Captain Thicks all trying to turn the rudder in different directions that are PCT commissioning departments. Your money wasted by idiots chasing their own tails. We have written about this and think the image posted at the time still applies now link.
Dr Crippen More Stealth Cuts in Health Care February 18 publishes an interesting piece on District Nursing that got our blood boiling given the state of play with district nursing here in Northernshire. We had an excellent and stable group of 7 nurses attached to our practice until the Thickerazzi ordered them back to the local Soviet barracks to “improve” the service.

Of the original team only one remains and the nurses are “too busy” now (sorry not enough of them) to cover our patients. Presumably they are doing their “metrics” and “currencies” rather than caring for patients?

A piece in the healthcare republic also caught our eye whereby David Cameron was criticised by Comrade Alan “Postman Pat” Johnson for sticking up for GPs.

Comrade Alan is quoted as saying of David Cameron:

'He believes in primary care access being for the convenience of the practice, not the patient.’

Surely he meant to say:

'He believes in primary care access being for the convenience of the Party, not the patient.’

This we believe is the correct and original version of the quote being about our incumbant cerebrally challenged (according to a Mr Clarkson from southern Northernshire) Prime Minister’s thoughts on extended (unpaid) hours for GPs and their staff.

Did you notice we said a couple of things at the start of this post but actually covered four things? Just like patients who start with a “couple of things” and land up talking about seven things. We can’t count rite well oop here in t’ North neither can our patients or their politicians.

Praise be to the Party for continually making things better.













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