Re: The battle for NHS 111: who should run it now?
Your article on the problems of NHS 111 contains what for many patients will be the welcome news that NHS 111 may actually be given powers to help them to see their own GP practice in an emergency. GPs have an excellent reputation and surely any rational patient would prefer to have this option. It is not from patient choice that a typical GP practice, which a few years ago provided 24 hour cover as routine, now provides no cover at all outside Monday/Friday office hours.
I suggest that the quickest and most practical way to improve our dire emergency services is for GP practices to "put the clock back" at least to some extent and to extend their hours of cover. The public do not want as your article puts it "some lay operative working a computer programme", they would mostly prefer to consult their own GP practice. Progress requires that the BMJ work with the government for change. The approach of the BMA's General Practioners Committee is too negative. In particular, the quoted comment from a lead negotiator "We're not having it. End of." uses the language of trade union confrontation. We need a more positive approach and more emphasis on patient welfare.
My personal experience as a patient of GP services has always been excellent. However, I would fear for my own and my family's safety in the event of an out of hours medical crisis. The service problem is not so much the life and death emergency which merits a 999 call, but simply how does anyone obtain prompt and reliable medical help for an urgent and deteriorating condition that presents outside office hours.
Peter Noble
1.The battle for NHS111: who should run it now? BMJ 2014; 348: f7659
Competing interests:
No competing interests
09 January 2014
Peter John Noble
Psychiatrist Retired
Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals, London SE5 8AZ
Rapid Response:
Re: The battle for NHS 111: who should run it now?
Your article on the problems of NHS 111 contains what for many patients will be the welcome news that NHS 111 may actually be given powers to help them to see their own GP practice in an emergency. GPs have an excellent reputation and surely any rational patient would prefer to have this option. It is not from patient choice that a typical GP practice, which a few years ago provided 24 hour cover as routine, now provides no cover at all outside Monday/Friday office hours.
I suggest that the quickest and most practical way to improve our dire emergency services is for GP practices to "put the clock back" at least to some extent and to extend their hours of cover. The public do not want as your article puts it "some lay operative working a computer programme", they would mostly prefer to consult their own GP practice. Progress requires that the BMJ work with the government for change. The approach of the BMA's General Practioners Committee is too negative. In particular, the quoted comment from a lead negotiator "We're not having it. End of." uses the language of trade union confrontation. We need a more positive approach and more emphasis on patient welfare.
My personal experience as a patient of GP services has always been excellent. However, I would fear for my own and my family's safety in the event of an out of hours medical crisis. The service problem is not so much the life and death emergency which merits a 999 call, but simply how does anyone obtain prompt and reliable medical help for an urgent and deteriorating condition that presents outside office hours.
Peter Noble
1.The battle for NHS111: who should run it now? BMJ 2014; 348: f7659
Competing interests: No competing interests