Doctors In Chieti
Living in London has its advantages – fast paced lifestyle, open freedom of expression, late night food whenever you want it and a wonderful health care system. Compare the NHS to the system we have in Italy and I have to say there is no comparison at all. So imagine my surprise whilst at home in Chieti this summer and I heard about the new health care bill being passed through the Parliament. It is interesting but I am concerned about allowing private companies to tender for services normally provided publicly.
I see GP jobs and more being advertised on the internet every week. Both the private and public sectors are screaming for medical professionals it seems. I think this is good and healthy competition between the two can result in a stable and well balanced system. Yet the public option must always remain open for those that cannot afford private care. I have studied what the new bill will actually mean for the NHS and GP work in general and there seem to be several ups and downs to it.
For a start I can see that giving budget control directly to GPs could be a good thing. Knowing they can spend money on medication and patients whenever they see fit rather then having to wait for clearance at a higher level may be more efficient. It would certainly remove the frustration that many GPs have when trying to get funds into local surgeries for drugs and referrals. On the other hand though I can see how much more pressure this strategy will place on GPs. Instead of solely focussing on the patient care they will have to think about how much money they can spend on the patients. If a GP was to run out of money before the next budget year, then patients could suffer as a result. Each patient would have a £ value attached to their forehead each time they visited the surgery and that is concerning.
… the many jobs available for GPs and Nurses in the UK show that there is a demand for quality and quantity …
In Chieti things always seem so much simpler then when I am in London. I am currently writing this on the beach as the sea has a tendency to help me think more clearly about things. When it comes to the NHS I can say that my country and virtually every other country in the world are jealous of the organisation. Private care can be excellent there is no denying it. Yet if you cannot afford the private option then public health care is the only solution. If the UK allows its public health care system to deteriorate then the system will revert in efficiency and go against the Hippocratic Oath every doctor swears to – do no harm.
I understand times are tough – have you seen the state of the Italian public finances? But there are always things people must hold onto in order to weather the bad times and see the sun shine again. I would encourage all UK politicians to come and visit Chieti before making more changes to the healthcare system in Britain. The sun and landscape will help clear their heads.
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