Lord Darzi, appointed by No Mandate Brown to “reform” the English NHS, is aiming to get GP’s to see their patients out of hours.
GP’s used to run out-of-hours surgeries but the British government gave them new contracts that allowed them to pass their obligations on to NHS Direct with a hefty pay rise to keep them voting Labour happy. It has been suggested that GP’s should be paid more to see their patients out of hours, possibly by allowing them to charge patients to see them out of hours.
Lord Darzi’s report won’t be made public for another 3 weeks but it has been presented today to the rump cabinet. No Mandate Brown looked particularly happy with the report – probably because if it all goes tits up it doesn’t affect a single person who voted for him.
This whole debate was handily kicked off by the big business lobby, the CBI (did you know, they’re against an referendum on the EU treaty? They’re pleased about getting an opt-out for workers’ rights…)
The bloke from the BMA was on the telly the other day. He says that the government hasn’t approached them over GP access… But the government is to meet with people from Virgin, Boots, Bupa, Lloyd’s Pharmacy, etc.
Privatisation? Oh yes. The government awarded similar contracts to dentists, completely disincentivising them from taking on NHS patients…
Here’s betting that the “citizen’s juries” were as bogus as the consultation on nuclear power, which informed people that it was the be-all and end-all.
Yes, as with most things New Labour does – it’s all about profits.