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I totally agree about the complaint culture. Having worked in the midlands as a GP and also in the local hospital's Emergency Department, for over 30 years, I have seen as well as felt the rise of defensive medicine which is the inevitable result.
I believe that defensive medicine is a significant factor in the current hospital crisis, leading to more admissions and investigations. On a personal note, the fear of complaint has been a significant factor in my retiring at the early age of 60, rather than continuing to do any medical work. Why should I risk it?
I suspect that unless we can change the current blame culture, no amount of money or contract changes will help the NHS.
Dr Gerada states at the end of the article that the GP contract 'dictates how many patients we see in our consulting room, which means we can't give longer appointments.'
Is this really true?
I believe all GPs should be offering 15 minute appointments, regardless of numbers of patients seen, as 10 minutes per patient is not possible or desirable.
This is the only way to maintain our sanity and to provide safe and effective care, and it's something I would like to see made a national policy.
Re: Burnt out GPs: five minutes with . . . Clare Gerada
I totally agree about the complaint culture. Having worked in the midlands as a GP and also in the local hospital's Emergency Department, for over 30 years, I have seen as well as felt the rise of defensive medicine which is the inevitable result.
I believe that defensive medicine is a significant factor in the current hospital crisis, leading to more admissions and investigations. On a personal note, the fear of complaint has been a significant factor in my retiring at the early age of 60, rather than continuing to do any medical work. Why should I risk it?
I suspect that unless we can change the current blame culture, no amount of money or contract changes will help the NHS.
Competing interests: No competing interests