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- Page navigation anchor for We need a clear vision for primary careWe need a clear vision for primary careEuan Lawson1 argues that we could lengthen our consultation times. Changing surgery times would destabilise practices already on the knife-edge. Our partnership model developed in the 1960s and was still working well in the 1980s. Then, maybe we
did see or speak to around 30 people a day, now suggested as a safe limit by the recent PULSE workload study.2Young doctors won’t commit to joining partnerships, where the capitation model compels doctors to process 40-60 appointments per day with a further punishing hundredShow Moreor so clinical decisions tobe made in letters,...Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Consultation length mattersConsultation length mattersShow More
Euan Lawson is right to draw our attention to the length of the GP consultation in the UK. Referenceto martyrdom is not required . GPs and their practices have it within their gift to make the changes required to move from 10 to 15 minute consultations. We have recently done so at our own practice, and it would be fair to say that it has been the single most beneficial change in my 21 years at the practice. There has been a reduction in GP stress and anxiety (running late suits no-one), morale has improved correspondingly, and...Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Consultation length, why are we not changing? Inertia or income protectionConsultation length, why are we not changing? Inertia or income protectionI have experience of working as a locum in both 10 and 15 minute systems and as an appraiser of practices where they have changed.Put it perhaps a little
simply one obstacle is that other staff may need tobe employed to deal with repeats andDocman to free Dr time. This may reduce income in the NHS GP system. without a reduction in the working day. Bizarrely increasing quality and probably reducing prescriptions and referrals may also cost the GP income.Competing Interests: None declared.