Read Michelle’s latest write-up on Transforming Primary Healthcare below.
Here are a few stats she quoted to start you off. The NHS is under incredible pressure right at the time it is so under-resourced, -staffed and -regarded. It makes me so sad.
Visits to GPs have increased from 2 per year in 2000 to 10 per year in 2020 yet we are losing an unprecedented number of newly qualified doctors driven away by unacceptable NHS working practices.
Daily patient lists for working GPs can reach 30 to 40.
Dispensing in primary care doubled from 10 prescription items per head per year in 1996 to 20 in 2016
200-300 million prescribed drugs are wasted each year
Adverse drug reactions account for 10-20% of hospital in-patient admissions
This really is terrifying, I really do worry about our NHS, which I’m very proud of by the way. However I am shocked and saddened at my own treatment by specialists. I am regularly belittled and gaslit and the current asthma care is very worrying, with new medication prescriptions changed without notification to drugs that actually cause me to have a full on asthma attack. This is just the tip of the iceberg too. What on earth can we do? I rarely go the doctor now, I just don’t find it helpful, but there are things we just need them for. How long will we continue to have our wonderful NHS for?
Eek, I know, Ruth. You do feel quite helpless don’t you? I do my best my providing a functional medicine alternative, I suppose, but I shouldn’t have to! I think it is being run into the ground, which is truly shocking. I noticed that change with asthma meds – I’m mean, just WHAT?! No consultation with patients. My own GP rang to say they were no longer going to be able to give me my trial MCAS meds. I asked why and they said it’s not listed as being used for that. I said neither is over 50% of your meds list. What they mean is it is too costly. I said so you are going to remove them and knowingly give me chronic pain to suffer every day for the rest of my life? He put the phone down. I feel for him, really, as it’s the chronic underfunding but it’s the patients who suffer. That must hurt them as presumably they went into a caring profession for a reason! Thankfully, I stopped the meds and am doing it my own way! But that is costly to the patient. Which goes right against the whole point of the NHS in the first place. We are turning into the US! Oh, sorry, bit of a rant there lol x