I find myself struggling with your dilemma. On the one hand, I sympathise with your predicament and observations because you're 'old school'. On the other hand . . . I have lost all respect for the medical trade in general due to their appalling behaviour over the past 4 years - with the exception of a very few such as Dave Cartland, Ahmad Malik, you & maybe a handful more. The vast majority, however, have disgraced themselves & I hold them in contempt.
Some nurses are capable and savvy. I had a THR a few weeks ago. The excellent nurse who checked me in noticed that I had said, among other things, 'no blood transfusions' on the consent form. She queried whether I was a JW. I'm not, but explained that I didn't want any blood because it is doubtless tainted with spike proteins, LNPs & God knows what else. I was happy for them to shove in some saline if needed, but otherwise I'd take my chances. Likewise, I didn't want any experimental gene therapy jabs or anything else not directly essential for the procedure.
She stopped what she was doing, looked around, put her mouth close to my ear & said; "I've seen enough over the past few years to know something is seriously wrong. If I was being admitted to hospital today, I would do exactly the same as you". She showed better critical thinking than any of the doctors I saw - and over the next couple of days delivered outstanding and attentive nursing care. She'd probably be the best kind of 'noctor'.
There are a lot more I think . . . for a start: Sarah Myhill, Malcolm Kendrick, David Unwin, Sam White, David Grimes, Vernon Coleman and so on. Not all will be quite as vocal.
Last night, I watched a talk by Dr. Graham Atkinson, yet another NHS whistleblower who's new to me. He thinks the NHS is a bit like a dying brontosaurus, i.e. the body's in an advanced state of decay and bits have dropped off but the head thinks most of the organism is still alive (N.B. my words not his).
One medic. I lost respect for was Dr Phil Hammond. In 2020 Private Eye (he writes as 'MD') became a Covidian magazine because apparently the editor trusts doctors and doesn't think they ever put a foot wrong. P.Eye began 60 years ago as the scourge of the establishment, now it's part of it.
Sure - I recognise & acknowledge those names (especially Kendrick) but even if I listed all those I could think of it would still be a drop in the ocean. The fact is that the vast majority of doctors & other 'health-care' workers did nothing to oppose the various outrages of the past 4 years. Had they made a stand based on medical ethics, old-fashioned science or some other basic principles then things might have been very different. They didn't. Instead, they took the money and 'followed orders'.
I share your feelings about Phil Hammond. I saw him doing his live stand up show some years ago in Clevedon. It was amusing, but I did sense that the NHS was also his religion & it coloured his outlook. Ben Goldacre was another name from the past who seemed to go to the dark side. As for 'The Eye' - I cancelled my subscription a long time ago when I saw that Ian Hislop had become a BBC stalwart representing part of the establishment rather than really satirising it.
Perhaps my tinnitus is really the sound of Peter Cook spinning in his grave.
We must place both our prayers & our bets on the underlying intelligence & compassion of the "normal" human being, both inside & outside of "medicine" to wake the heck up & perceive the real problem- a deeply sociopathic & fascistic union between Government Power & for Profit Only Corporate Power Structures feeding off of the life force & physical bodies of children, women & men.
That unholy alliance must be dissolved.
Groups like the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, who's motto is "All For The Patient," & who actially work to live up to it, groups fighting for Accountability for the Covid Coup, Home School Groups, Church Groups, anti Globalists & Pro Free Speech Groups, Parental Rights Groups, Organic Food Organizations, on & on and on. We must band together and PUSH BACK HARD.
Humanity depends on this effort. And remember, it's always darkest before the dawn!
Brings back memories of my GP who, seeing a growth on the back of my neck, told me to hop up on the table. A bit of alcohol on his hands and my neck, the site was numbed and out came the scalpel, followed by "Oops - I've nicked a vein" as I felt the blood roll down my neck. 25 years later and I am still here. Or the GP who was my family GP from my birth who roped me into helping take disabled people on holiday to France. Before we got to Dover he handed out sea-sickness tablets to everyone else. To me he held up a small vial in which, he said, were bits of a poisonous South American spider. In small doses it was claimed that it prevented sickness. Was I up for him and myself trying it? Why not - I had trusted this guy since my earliest memory. I found myself spending the crossing heaving up in the gents. My only satisfaction was that my GP was in the next cubicle. They don't make doctors like that anymore, I am sad to say. Both men were marvellous doctors.
I made a none urgent appointment at my surgery. It is for 4 weeks hence. Not needed to see one for years. I have 2 matters to discuss and I wouldn't be surprised if I get told to make a further appointment as they'll say only one problem per visit. I'll take note to see if it is a real doctor or not. Phone consultations are ok in some situations not requiring examination or new diagnosis. We are in a bad way, for sure.
Of course when business models supersede good medical practice, it becomes more profitable NOT to help/heal patients, since chronic illness means more customer visits. In this light, more noctors and worse patient outcomes amount to a more successful business, sadly.
Given their recent track record, most NHS GPs should be struck off for sheer incompetence, let alone avarice. The best health care professional I had at my practice for many years, was a nurse practitioner.
In remote and rural UK GP it is still possible to enjoy working as an 'old school' style GP - here it remains a rich and rewarding career and I still enjoy going to work as a full time GP. However it is less well paid than urban GP and so less of a lure for younger GPs with their burden of debt. No one seems to want to take on the responsibility of partnership any more. Also we still have the issue of the wider NHS collapsing around us and a housing crisis caused in part be second home ownership/houses subsumed by the Air B and B industry (which affects staff recruitment and retention). However having seen how quickly the dominos have fallen in other areas as you describe it would only take a few of us leaving and not being able to recruit for it to implode here too.
I worked for a variety of US Tech firms long before AI was possible but when it was on the horizon of talked about things to come. Back then talk always was that eliminating doctors would be the first aim of AI. Those in charge saw doctors as being in the way of greater profit. It is obvious where this is going for doctor and patient.
On a slightly different note, I like to point out to people that in the original books of 'The Hunger Games' - not in the films - the servants in Capital City all had to wear face masks whilst the elites did not. Sometimes I wish I was older so that I will not be around for what is coming.
To misspell a well known saying 'I fear the dye is cast'. Unless someone can fast come up with a bottle of bleach the consequent stain will be indelible. Having worked in the NHS in a number of frontline clinical and later non-clinical operationally-focused roles I despair of what it is becoming. A hollowed out husk of a thing that facilitates disease rather than good health. Sheared from its founding ethos and principles it is now unrecognisable to me. Deliberate and by design. Shame, shame, shame.
With regards to PA registration, it is my feeling that they should be registered with the HCPC and not the GMC.
This is despite the nursing equivalent Nursing Associates being registered with the NMC, as the NA role is closest to the RN role, similar to the old SEN.
Nurses who are Advanced Clinical Practitioners are still registered with the NMC, paramedics who are Advanced Clinical Practitioners are still registered with the HCPC.
ACPs are closer to FY1/FY2 medics than PAs are, applying the same logic regarding PAs all ACPs irrespective of background should be registered with the GMC, which is a nonsense.
ACPs are not physicians despite what they do. PAs are not physicians despite their title.
Both roles are necessary but they are the peak of progression within their respective roles.
As a triage nurse I identified two pneumothoraces and several cases of sepsis. When I worked as. Nurse practitioner, including 2020 when I was seeing patients face to face who’d referred by their GP after a telephone consultation, I was seeing, treating and discharging or referring to secondary care, patients from babies to the elderly.
I had worked in A&E both adults and paediatrics.
A former nurse colleague has become an advanced clinical practitioner on a cardiac ward.
When my first grandchild was born and had the sniffles or other symptoms of a viral infection her mum asked me for advice, nothing unusual you may think, but her mum is a paediatrician. It’s the appropriate use of resources.
For some chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes then nurse specialists could have more focused knowledge than a GP.
I find myself struggling with your dilemma. On the one hand, I sympathise with your predicament and observations because you're 'old school'. On the other hand . . . I have lost all respect for the medical trade in general due to their appalling behaviour over the past 4 years - with the exception of a very few such as Dave Cartland, Ahmad Malik, you & maybe a handful more. The vast majority, however, have disgraced themselves & I hold them in contempt.
Some nurses are capable and savvy. I had a THR a few weeks ago. The excellent nurse who checked me in noticed that I had said, among other things, 'no blood transfusions' on the consent form. She queried whether I was a JW. I'm not, but explained that I didn't want any blood because it is doubtless tainted with spike proteins, LNPs & God knows what else. I was happy for them to shove in some saline if needed, but otherwise I'd take my chances. Likewise, I didn't want any experimental gene therapy jabs or anything else not directly essential for the procedure.
She stopped what she was doing, looked around, put her mouth close to my ear & said; "I've seen enough over the past few years to know something is seriously wrong. If I was being admitted to hospital today, I would do exactly the same as you". She showed better critical thinking than any of the doctors I saw - and over the next couple of days delivered outstanding and attentive nursing care. She'd probably be the best kind of 'noctor'.
There are a lot more I think . . . for a start: Sarah Myhill, Malcolm Kendrick, David Unwin, Sam White, David Grimes, Vernon Coleman and so on. Not all will be quite as vocal.
Last night, I watched a talk by Dr. Graham Atkinson, yet another NHS whistleblower who's new to me. He thinks the NHS is a bit like a dying brontosaurus, i.e. the body's in an advanced state of decay and bits have dropped off but the head thinks most of the organism is still alive (N.B. my words not his).
One medic. I lost respect for was Dr Phil Hammond. In 2020 Private Eye (he writes as 'MD') became a Covidian magazine because apparently the editor trusts doctors and doesn't think they ever put a foot wrong. P.Eye began 60 years ago as the scourge of the establishment, now it's part of it.
Sure - I recognise & acknowledge those names (especially Kendrick) but even if I listed all those I could think of it would still be a drop in the ocean. The fact is that the vast majority of doctors & other 'health-care' workers did nothing to oppose the various outrages of the past 4 years. Had they made a stand based on medical ethics, old-fashioned science or some other basic principles then things might have been very different. They didn't. Instead, they took the money and 'followed orders'.
I share your feelings about Phil Hammond. I saw him doing his live stand up show some years ago in Clevedon. It was amusing, but I did sense that the NHS was also his religion & it coloured his outlook. Ben Goldacre was another name from the past who seemed to go to the dark side. As for 'The Eye' - I cancelled my subscription a long time ago when I saw that Ian Hislop had become a BBC stalwart representing part of the establishment rather than really satirising it.
Perhaps my tinnitus is really the sound of Peter Cook spinning in his grave.
We must place both our prayers & our bets on the underlying intelligence & compassion of the "normal" human being, both inside & outside of "medicine" to wake the heck up & perceive the real problem- a deeply sociopathic & fascistic union between Government Power & for Profit Only Corporate Power Structures feeding off of the life force & physical bodies of children, women & men.
That unholy alliance must be dissolved.
Groups like the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, who's motto is "All For The Patient," & who actially work to live up to it, groups fighting for Accountability for the Covid Coup, Home School Groups, Church Groups, anti Globalists & Pro Free Speech Groups, Parental Rights Groups, Organic Food Organizations, on & on and on. We must band together and PUSH BACK HARD.
Humanity depends on this effort. And remember, it's always darkest before the dawn!
Brings back memories of my GP who, seeing a growth on the back of my neck, told me to hop up on the table. A bit of alcohol on his hands and my neck, the site was numbed and out came the scalpel, followed by "Oops - I've nicked a vein" as I felt the blood roll down my neck. 25 years later and I am still here. Or the GP who was my family GP from my birth who roped me into helping take disabled people on holiday to France. Before we got to Dover he handed out sea-sickness tablets to everyone else. To me he held up a small vial in which, he said, were bits of a poisonous South American spider. In small doses it was claimed that it prevented sickness. Was I up for him and myself trying it? Why not - I had trusted this guy since my earliest memory. I found myself spending the crossing heaving up in the gents. My only satisfaction was that my GP was in the next cubicle. They don't make doctors like that anymore, I am sad to say. Both men were marvellous doctors.
I made a none urgent appointment at my surgery. It is for 4 weeks hence. Not needed to see one for years. I have 2 matters to discuss and I wouldn't be surprised if I get told to make a further appointment as they'll say only one problem per visit. I'll take note to see if it is a real doctor or not. Phone consultations are ok in some situations not requiring examination or new diagnosis. We are in a bad way, for sure.
Of course when business models supersede good medical practice, it becomes more profitable NOT to help/heal patients, since chronic illness means more customer visits. In this light, more noctors and worse patient outcomes amount to a more successful business, sadly.
Given their recent track record, most NHS GPs should be struck off for sheer incompetence, let alone avarice. The best health care professional I had at my practice for many years, was a nurse practitioner.
Not a GP.
In remote and rural UK GP it is still possible to enjoy working as an 'old school' style GP - here it remains a rich and rewarding career and I still enjoy going to work as a full time GP. However it is less well paid than urban GP and so less of a lure for younger GPs with their burden of debt. No one seems to want to take on the responsibility of partnership any more. Also we still have the issue of the wider NHS collapsing around us and a housing crisis caused in part be second home ownership/houses subsumed by the Air B and B industry (which affects staff recruitment and retention). However having seen how quickly the dominos have fallen in other areas as you describe it would only take a few of us leaving and not being able to recruit for it to implode here too.
Thank you for your valued professional perspective. Knowing the rural side of it, I agree. Implosion is a distinct possibility.
I worked for a variety of US Tech firms long before AI was possible but when it was on the horizon of talked about things to come. Back then talk always was that eliminating doctors would be the first aim of AI. Those in charge saw doctors as being in the way of greater profit. It is obvious where this is going for doctor and patient.
On a slightly different note, I like to point out to people that in the original books of 'The Hunger Games' - not in the films - the servants in Capital City all had to wear face masks whilst the elites did not. Sometimes I wish I was older so that I will not be around for what is coming.
To misspell a well known saying 'I fear the dye is cast'. Unless someone can fast come up with a bottle of bleach the consequent stain will be indelible. Having worked in the NHS in a number of frontline clinical and later non-clinical operationally-focused roles I despair of what it is becoming. A hollowed out husk of a thing that facilitates disease rather than good health. Sheared from its founding ethos and principles it is now unrecognisable to me. Deliberate and by design. Shame, shame, shame.
With regards to PA registration, it is my feeling that they should be registered with the HCPC and not the GMC.
This is despite the nursing equivalent Nursing Associates being registered with the NMC, as the NA role is closest to the RN role, similar to the old SEN.
Nurses who are Advanced Clinical Practitioners are still registered with the NMC, paramedics who are Advanced Clinical Practitioners are still registered with the HCPC.
ACPs are closer to FY1/FY2 medics than PAs are, applying the same logic regarding PAs all ACPs irrespective of background should be registered with the GMC, which is a nonsense.
ACPs are not physicians despite what they do. PAs are not physicians despite their title.
Both roles are necessary but they are the peak of progression within their respective roles.
As a triage nurse I identified two pneumothoraces and several cases of sepsis. When I worked as. Nurse practitioner, including 2020 when I was seeing patients face to face who’d referred by their GP after a telephone consultation, I was seeing, treating and discharging or referring to secondary care, patients from babies to the elderly.
I had worked in A&E both adults and paediatrics.
A former nurse colleague has become an advanced clinical practitioner on a cardiac ward.
When my first grandchild was born and had the sniffles or other symptoms of a viral infection her mum asked me for advice, nothing unusual you may think, but her mum is a paediatrician. It’s the appropriate use of resources.
For some chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes then nurse specialists could have more focused knowledge than a GP.