By: Daniel Oxley

Daniel Oxley — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:11:03 +0000

I am not sure that it is fair to criticise Mr. Lansley for wanting to abolish the right of patients to see their GP within 48 hours.
These targets are not always useful and in this case I think that it is better to leave the decision about who gets seen first to the GP him/herself. It would, for instance, be follish to put someone requiring tatoo removal before a patient with a serious and pressing need to be seen, just because the person with the tatoos had a right to be seen within 48 hours.
This top down micromanagement is such a persistent and unwelcome feature of both New Labour and the EU.
If asked whether I would prefer decisions about my position on a GP waiting list to be decided by the GP or by some remote politician in Westminster (who has probably been helping him/herself to the funds needed for medical tratments) the answer would of course be the GP.
GPs are bright people who have passed loads of exams, they know their patients’ needs and they are far more trustworthy than politicians.
The targets set for A&E patients were a total mess. Ambulance drivers left patients waiting in the Ambulance to delay the registered time of arrival so that when the figures were put together the hospital could be seen to be responding to patients within given time limits. This did not serve the needs of patients or save any money.
The same could be said for the time limits on booking an appointment to see a GP. I remember well a member of my family needing an appointment being told that they could not make the appointment but they should ring back at a later given date to make the appointment (just to make sure that the target for the time between making the appointment and getting it were met) – what a mess, making an appointment to make an appointment. It reminded me of a rather bureaucratic organisation for which I used to work which had not just a meeting to schedule meetings but a meeting about the meeting about the meeting to schedule meetings.
Another example of top down unecessary micro-management came to my attention today. I learned that the EU is now considering a ban on the sale of eggs buy the dozen. The economy and currency of the EU is in turmoil and they can find the time to worry about how many eggs should be in a box!
Egg retailers and customers should be free to sell and buy eggs in whatever numbers they want. Why on earth should the EU interfer? Perhaps because they are pining for the days, or rather the years, 15 years in fact, that they took to work out what chocolate is.

Comments on: Honeyball’s Weekly Round Up

By: Daniel Oxley