CANNON FODDER

By Alex Thain
Contact the author by e-mail at info@ardlarich.co.uk

"L'Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers"*

Napoleon Bonaparte

It was an ordinary day in an ordinary surgery in the North of Scotland. Jim McKintosh was an ordinary patient with no major medical problems, polite and compliant- he was a comfortable patient. However a perception of comfort is a dangerous place.

"So you'll be opening 'til 10 at night again Doc" was his opening.

My verbals and non-verbals were, for once, completely in unison.

"Sorry Jim" I replied hesitantly.

"The Health Minister said so" he replied "and on the BBC" he added to reinforce his point. I professed my ignorance and steered the conversation to comfortable territory, desperately resisting my defensive instinct.

After he left I dipped into the electronic world that is the BBC News website to discover that the Minister of Health in another country had launched a "consultation" process. The BBC invited the electronically minded to e-contibute to its "Have Your Say" section. Predictably the commuter belt were baying for lazy overpaid GP's to respond to public demand. The few supportive souls and GP's spouses who tried to moderate the e-lynching were swiftly despatched in a torrent of attitudinal indignation. It was fascinating to watch the e-debate unfold through the day until eventually a few GP's tried some desperate rearguard action, only to be washed away by the same resentful outburst.

In analysis, it was indeed a very skilled stroke by an experienced politician to undermine GP's in a cute "hands off" way. To deflect criticism of our dwindling numbers, the suggestion of an unreasonable attitude was gently offered to and eagerly snatched by those who struggled to get appointments. I cannot believe that The Rt. Hon. Ms Patricia Hewitt was unaware of a fledgling contract or recent criticism of NHS24- how convenient to drop the hint that it was the unreasonable GP's all along.

The power of the Media has been staggering. I've no doubt that most of us have been taunted by the urban myth that is the £100K GP pay scale. For those learners struggling with rudimentary statistics, the report by PKF Accountants that their client GP's had, on average, broken the £100K barrier is a shining example of a biased cohort group. To consider them representative of our earnings is statistically incorrect and philosophically unfair but the figure is now firmly embedded in the national consciousness.

I sympathise with the difficulties of commuters and recognise very clearly that we are a service industry. Perhaps we should just weather the storm with dignity or perhaps our skills lie in reflection-

To our patients- "which morning would you like us to close?"

To our politicians- "how will you resource us and full AHP, Lab and pharmacy provision to extend our normal services?"

I await the answers with interest…

*The English are a nation of shopkeepers

Other hoolet online articles by Alex Thain can be found at:
hoolet edition 50 - A Fairy Tale
hoolet edition 49 - A Tale of Two Addicts
hoolet edition 48 - The Supporter
hoolet edition 47 - Cannon Fodder
hoolet edition 46 - The Commercial Imperative Alternative
hoolet edition 46 - The Commercial Imperative Assassin
hoolet edition 45 - A Lateral Thought
hoolet edition 44 - The Watching
hoolet edition 43 - The Child Within
hoolet edition 42 - If Kipling were a GP
hoolet edition 42 - Of Directors, Philosophers and Poets
hoolet edition 40- Of Knees and Knickers
hoolet edition 39- Neighbour meets Norton
hoolet edition 38- Embarrassment
hoolet edition 37- From the Book of Negotiators
hoolet edition 36 - Practice Visit By WH Audit
hoolet edition 35 - The Bells, The Bells. . . .
hoolet edition 34 - Talking Urine
hoolet edition 33 - Reflections on Reggie Perrin
hoolet edition 32 - Myth 1 Logic 1
hoolet edition 31 - Poems
hoolet edition 30 - One Size Fits All
hoolet edition 29 - Downwardly Mobile
hoolet edition 28 - From the mouths of babes
hoolet edition 27 - On Losing Their Child

hoolet is the magazine of RCGP Scotland. It is supported intellectually, financially and emotionally by RCGP Scotland.

This issue maintained by Robert Hallam.