gps – Slugger O'Toole

The Great Resignation will have a profound impact on society…

Brian O'Neill on September 16, 2021, 8:07 am | Readers 3972

Woman in white robe writing on white paper

We are living in strange times. History tells us that after a major crisis the stock market tanks, we get a recession and unemployment goes up. This is the boom and bust cycle. Except for this time… Governments have embraced Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and have been pumping money into the system to keep the economy afloat. The result is the markets are actually up and instead of massive unemployment but have a massive skill shortage. I am a fan …

General Practice is making pharmacists’ lives very difficult and is potentially risking patient safety…

Terry Maguire on September 1, 2021, 7:22 am | Readers 14450

GPs locked the surgery doors on 16th March 2020 and have, it seem, only resumed a basic service. Officially no one is saying so; it’s an uncomfortable truth and GPs are everywhere making the case they work harder than ever. Perhaps they do. When GP spokespersons appear outside practices to tell us how exhausted and burned out they are we might be hearing the truth or we could be witnessing spin at its apogee. Patient access remains constrained to the …

Is less medicine a bad thing?

Terry Maguire on June 26, 2020, 8:47 am | Readers 1774

Medical consultants are anxious that too few acute medical cases are being reported at A&E departments during the on-going crisis. This they claim predicts a potential surge in morbidity and mortality from diseases such as; heart disease, lung disease, mental illness and cancers, once Covid-19 is dealt with. It seems a logical conclusion given that there was, for example, in one Health Trust, a 33% reduction in reported heart attacks in March and April. Consultants reason that people are having …

Beyond a Spin of the Wheel – GPs and mental health care

Soapbox on July 17, 2017, 8:22 pm | Readers 662

The crisis facing GP services in Northern Ireland has been well documented, including in previous posts on Slugger O’Toole. Increasing patient lists, ‘red tape’, underfunding, an ageing workforce and the compounding of health issues in deprived communities due to austerity policies, are only some of the problems faced by the service. The British Medical Association has mooted the unwelcome spectre of GPs walking away from the NHS, while the Royal College of GPs NI, in an open letter, has highlighted …

The government’s idea of compelling doctors to work for a period in the NHS…

Robert Campbell on May 28, 2017, 9:19 am | Readers 1898

The general public regards the NHS as something between a ‘sacred cow’ and a ‘national treasure’, despite all the pressures that it is under. For decades it has provided a universal service, largely free* at the point of use. The public may have a collective memory of the abysmal provision before it was introduced; to see just what changes it made, you have to look for ‘the short and simple annals of the poor’ — you could start by reading …

The Northern Ireland GP crisis. The doctor won’t see you now…

Brian O'Neill on March 24, 2015, 11:29 am | Readers 3131

Across Northern Ireland there is a shortage of 234 family doctors. Some 25% of GPs are over 55 so many will be retiring soon further worsening the situation. The number of GP practices in Northern Ireland has shrunk to the lowest level in nearly a quarter of a century – and that each GP surgery in the region is, on average, now providing care to 500 more people than ten years ago. Over the last decade, the number of registered …