Will general practice as we know it survive in this economic climate?
We are not sure. Below is a document written by a local GP colleague who is trying to raise awareness of the pressure that NHS GPs are under. Reading it, I am struggling to see how the wonderful NHS GP service that we know and love is going to survive. We are posting it to help with awareness as we fully support our NHS GP colleagues and believe that the role of GP is such a crucial one to this nation. Here it is: £136 per year – what can you buy? - 11 months pet insurance; it costs £151 to insure one rabbit for a year with Petplan - 6 months mobile phone use; one year on a Vodafone sim-only tariff costs £264 - 5 months Sky TV family bundle - less than 3 tanks of fuel for a Vauxhall Astra - coffee on your way to work for 3 months Or… …one year of funding per patient for the average general practice. Yes. £136. Less than the cost of pet insurance, or a mobile phone, or Sky TV, or 3 tanks of fuel. And many practices get far less than this. And