Cuts Cuts Cuts

Despite all the political hype there just isn’t enough money in the NHS. Only today I heard that our local health authority is millions in debt and can’t invest any more in our local health services. This has been a real blow to local GPs as they have been desperate to improve care to their patients. We have been planning on expanding our services in our surgery but with this latest bad news we won’t be able to. This is happening all across the UK and looks set to continue. GPs are very keen to move forward and embrace the latest medical advances but we simply can’t. We feel as though we are being held back through no fault of our own. This lack of investment in what we do is short sighted as it will only mean that more patients will end up in hospital which costs far more in the long run. How frustrating!

'While I'm here doctor'

Can I make an appeal to all patients in the world? Please don’t bring your shopping list to your doctor. Remember I only have around 8 minutes to see you and there are 15 others wishing to see me that morning plus a few at home to see, then a further 16 that afternoon. There is nothing more frustrating than a whole list of problems that someone has saved up for their visit to the doctor. It can be hard enough working out one of your problems but when I am bombarded with 3, 4 or sometimes 5 different things it all becomes a bit too much. Now I know it can be tricky to get an appointment or your boss won’t give you time off but most doctors prefer to deal with a single issue so they can thoroughly think through your illness and ensure you get the correct treatment. Don’t take this the wrong way – just let us give you the attention you need.

I was told to come Doc

A chap came today and recited these words that I have heard so many times before. Quite often men only come to see their GP after much nagging by their other half ! I am afraid this is true the world over with men as they tend to ignore symptoms and quite often only attend after they have been ‘told to do so’. Sometimes the delay can mean they have suffered longer than they should have. If only they had attended their GP a little earlier then their illness could have been sorted out sooner. So for any men out there with some symptoms they are worried about -----à see your GP!

Viagra or Not?

This is the question GPs ask themselves many times. Ever since Viagra was
allowed on prescription we have had to follow a set of rules as to whether
we can prescribe Viagra on the NHS or not. It is one of the few medicines we
have to do this for yet we are allowed to prescribe thousands of other
medicines with no such rules.
Only this week I saw a young man doing very well in getting over his
depression. He also had an erectile problem which had been long standing. I
had done some preliminary tests to ensure his erection problems were not
caused by other illnesses and it was at this stage that I felt he would
benefit from Viagra usage in the short term.
However he cannot have it on the NHS as he does not fit into these fairly
rigid rules. I had to issue him with a private prescription for which he has
to pay over 20 pounds for 4 tablets.
He was so obviously going to benefit from the tablet and possibly it would
speed his recovery up from his depression if he could get back to some
normality with his sex life.
The government puts these rules in place and I sometimes wonder whether
those in positions of power truly understand the ramifications of their
actions by limiting certain drugs.
I will be seeing this chap in a few weeks to see how he is getting on so I
hope he will be much better by then.

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