Right. This may not make you feel better, triskellian, but it may explain things a little.
The reason you've been jumped on is to do with the changes the Government made last year in the way GP services are funded. There was a "new contract" brought in that altered the way they work out how to pay GPs. There are a certain number of "quality measures" (very management speak) which doctors have to show they're doing, and then they get payment based on how many they have managed. The government decided several hundred things that "matter", like "diabetes care" and "asthma care and "cervical smears", and then drew up a list of things to do to earn "points". And , you've guessed it, points mean prizes.
There are *many* far more important things, like good communication, compassion when a relative or patient is dying, holistic support, good team support, which are not "pointsworthy", but that's another matter and to do with politics of healthcare provision.
What's important here, is that you have been (rightly) identified by your GP as an asthmatic and put on their "asthma register". This means your GP practice depends on you being checked annually to see if you're OK and happy with your treatment for part of their funding. OK, a waste of time from your point of view, but it funds the service, and they have no choice, they *have* to see you annually to get the money. (Some practices do a phone review, but most places don't have time to implement this) The other thing is that people from age 18-35 are notorious for not seeking help regarding their asthma treament until they're really poorly, and thus far too many of 'em still end up in ITU or the morgue. Again, clearly not you, but you can't tell the well non-attender from the ill non-attender, can you?
And about the prescriptions thing; the problem here, believe it or not, is not your GP. The actual bugdet that provides payment for prescriptions on the NHS isn't your GP anymore, it's a seperate management-led authority called the Primary Care Trust. Each PCT covers about 100,000 population or so, and they tell the GPs about which drugs they aren't "allowed" to prescribe (like the really expensive MS and Alzheimer's drugs) and also they dictate the amount of medicine allowed per perscription. The PCTs get their funding from the Government, and - you've guessed it- the govt haven't given them enough money to do what they want. So many PCTs are in dire financial straights with big deficits, the PCT managers have to decide how to make their pursestrings tighter, and one way to do it is to reduce the per-perscription length from 56 days to 28 days. So that's what they've done. After all, who'll notice???!!!
So, that may or may not explain things a little. Whatever happens, I hope your asthma stays well-behaved.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-03-09 08:34 pm (UTC)This may not make you feel better,
The reason you've been jumped on is to do with the changes the Government made last year in the way GP services are funded. There was a "new contract" brought in that altered the way they work out how to pay GPs. There are a certain number of "quality measures" (very management speak) which doctors have to show they're doing, and then they get payment based on how many they have managed. The government decided several hundred things that "matter", like "diabetes care" and "asthma care and "cervical smears", and then drew up a list of things to do to earn "points". And , you've guessed it, points mean prizes.
There are *many* far more important things, like good communication, compassion when a relative or patient is dying, holistic support, good team support, which are not "pointsworthy", but that's another matter and to do with politics of healthcare provision.
What's important here, is that you have been (rightly) identified by your GP as an asthmatic and put on their "asthma register". This means your GP practice depends on you being checked annually to see if you're OK and happy with your treatment for part of their funding. OK, a waste of time from your point of view, but it funds the service, and they have no choice, they *have* to see you annually to get the money. (Some practices do a phone review, but most places don't have time to implement this) The other thing is that people from age 18-35 are notorious for not seeking help regarding their asthma treament until they're really poorly, and thus far too many of 'em still end up in ITU or the morgue. Again, clearly not you, but you can't tell the well non-attender from the ill non-attender, can you?
And about the prescriptions thing; the problem here, believe it or not, is not your GP. The actual bugdet that provides payment for prescriptions on the NHS isn't your GP anymore, it's a seperate management-led authority called the Primary Care Trust. Each PCT covers about 100,000 population or so, and they tell the GPs about which drugs they aren't "allowed" to prescribe (like the really expensive MS and Alzheimer's drugs) and also they dictate the amount of medicine allowed per perscription. The PCTs get their funding from the Government, and - you've guessed it- the govt haven't given them enough money to do what they want. So many PCTs are in dire financial straights with big deficits, the PCT managers have to decide how to make their pursestrings tighter, and one way to do it is to reduce the per-perscription length from 56 days to 28 days. So that's what they've done. After all, who'll notice???!!!
So, that may or may not explain things a little. Whatever happens, I hope your asthma stays well-behaved.