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Much of what GPs can do, however valuable for individual patients, is tinkering at the edges of problems that are rooted in their social situation. Social determinants of health are largely a consequence of political decisions, and so we should speak out when, where and to whom we can influence.
It is 7 years since I had patients in my care but I share Helen Salisbury's anger at the sidelining of knowledgeable professionals in favour of outsourcing to companies who have already demonstrated their incompetence in providing health care services.
Under the Covid 19 Emergency Regulations my licence to practice as a GP was restored until October 2020.
Along with, I understand, over 20,000 fellow retirees, I volunteered to provide help. Specifically to provide phone advice to patients. A week later my offer was declined.
Apparently a contract to organise NHS returners was given to Capita
And the contract to organise contact tracing has been given to Serco
At the future Covid 19 postmortem, it will be interesting to learn why recruiting, crash-training, and paying call handlers was to be preferred to accepting free help from those of us with a professional lifetime's experience of talking to worried people.
Re: Helen Salisbury: speaking out about politics and health
Dear Editor
Much of what GPs can do, however valuable for individual patients, is tinkering at the edges of problems that are rooted in their social situation. Social determinants of health are largely a consequence of political decisions, and so we should speak out when, where and to whom we can influence.
Competing interests: No competing interests