To think that more than 24 000 people care about the NHS?

[MummyBerryJuice]

If you do, and think that the way in which the reforms are being pushed through is rushed and ill considered. Sign the petition here

bilblio you don't work in Scarborough by any chance?

Law practises don't decide on court funding though. They also decide on whether you are represented based on whether you can pay their fee or not. Great if you can. Shitty if you can't.

GP practises are already private enterprises contracted to provide a service to the NHS. So the GPs already run and (with the help of peaches managers) manage their own practises.

done and shared on facebook.........surely this should be generating as much outrage as the Forestry Commission sell off!!!

Farking phone! Practise managers not peaches managers.

No we are not talking about how practises are managed. See above n

MummyBerryJuice No I don't, seems like we're not the only organisation going through similar things though.

Done and shared on fb

These reforms are not about giving GPs more power over their own affairs. They already have that.

It is about GPs being held responsible for commissioning hospital services also (as a part of it). Something they are neither trained to nor eager to do n

I am concerned about this, mainly because doctors appear so worried.

Smallwhitecat: it's not exactly like law. Within hospitals, there are many more specialties than there are types of court, and they often need specialist (and expensive) kit as well as practitioners with niche skills. How can GPs, with patient bases of a few thousand, make commissioning decisions about sustained provision of such specialties when they might refer patients to them only a few times over a career?

Currently there are no direct plans for a fee for service system. However, David Cameron did admit (I think on the today programme) that this might mean the end to a 'free at point of care' healthcare system.

Will try to find his admission for you b

Done & shared on fb too.

swc we don't agree in the subject of the NHS but I do appreciate your input and questions.

Most doctors want to be doctors and do not want the responsibility of managing complex budgets that will impact not only their own practise but others in the area. What are your mum's views on the reforms as they currently stand?

I think you are being unfair. As I have said before, GPs are already responsible for managing their own budgets and running their own practises (like lawyers), not wanting to be responsible for the budgets for a hospital (the management of which is complex and not necessarily understood by tue GPs) does not show a lack of gumption but rather an admirable understanding of their own weaknesses.

Also, do we want GPs to be doctors seeing patients or managers deciding on healthcare budgets?

Done. For all the moaning 'we' do about the NHS, I'm just bloody glad we have a free health service, even if it's not amazing sometimes. (OK, a lot of the time. But we'd be stuffed without it.)

I've worked in private healthcare and TBH some of the nurses' attitudes were appalling. And the staffing ratio was no better.

done, thanks for posting

I fear that what we are heading for is a 'managed health care' system such at the HMOs in the US where access to treatment is not based on your need but on the cost (and perhaps on your contributions in the for of NI with or without 'top-ups')

Done and passed to family and friends