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Law of supply and demand applies in NHS
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
EDITOR
So recognisable was Jeffrey's description of his wife's
doctor's surgery that I read his end piece with discomfort, as I had a
strong suspicion that his wife was a patient of mine.1
I was pleased to discover that it was not our service being described, but I was also interested because I had made the same comparisons between my surgery and the local veterinary surgery when my own cat had been unwell. I had found consolation in the argument that, as a public service, the NHS does not have the same laws of supply and demand that the private sector vets have. If a vet's workload rises, I thought, then so does their income. With that they can employ more vets without the approval of the veterinary equivalent of the Medical Practices Committee, and thus maintain a similar level of service no matter what the demand.
My consolation
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- Memorable patients: Those who sit and wait
- David Jeffrey
BMJ 2001 323: 362.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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