GPs have taken advantage of a number of policies that have all
happened simultaneously: 1. the drive to increase numbers in a profession
in which - let's not forget - a few years back had difficulty in
attracting applicants; 2. the drive towards better primary prevention -
effectively using a 'performance-related' award system; 3. the drive to
more community-based healthcare, away from secondary care facilities and
4. a change in modern working practices, to achieve a better work-life
balance.
This has resulted in 6 figure-salaries, 4-day working weeks and doing
no on-call commitment, with worsening of the inverse care law as these GPs
do not tend to be in urban, deprived areas. Secondary care clinics were
getting busier before these changes (1) and I doubt this has changed. GPs
now earn more than consultants - that is truely market forces at work.
So whose fault is it? One can not blame the GPs. They have simple
benefited from policies that did not look at the whole picture but instead
focussed on specific issues without assessing the impact the combination
may have.
Rapid Response:
Market forces
GPs have taken advantage of a number of policies that have all
happened simultaneously: 1. the drive to increase numbers in a profession
in which - let's not forget - a few years back had difficulty in
attracting applicants; 2. the drive towards better primary prevention -
effectively using a 'performance-related' award system; 3. the drive to
more community-based healthcare, away from secondary care facilities and
4. a change in modern working practices, to achieve a better work-life
balance.
This has resulted in 6 figure-salaries, 4-day working weeks and doing
no on-call commitment, with worsening of the inverse care law as these GPs
do not tend to be in urban, deprived areas. Secondary care clinics were
getting busier before these changes (1) and I doubt this has changed. GPs
now earn more than consultants - that is truely market forces at work.
So whose fault is it? One can not blame the GPs. They have simple
benefited from policies that did not look at the whole picture but instead
focussed on specific issues without assessing the impact the combination
may have.
1. http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/HPSSS/TBL_B18.HTM
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests