When I was young and poorly, we’d pitch up at the surgery, sit in the waiting room for a while and see a doctor. If I was really poorly, the doctor would come and see me at home that morning. Yes, I know we’ve had Covid, and I know the population has increased, but when I ‘phone now, I have to go through the “why are you ‘phoning us, are you mad, don’t you know we’re really busy“ messages, to book a telephone appointment in 10 days to 2 weeks. If you can’t wait that long, dial 111 or 999. GPs blame the NHS and say the system is broken. Hospital consultant clients blame GPs and say the system is broken. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Ireland’s Budget Surplus
Remember George Osborne? His plan was to cut his way to a ‘budget surplus’, where the government has more money coming in than goes out, by 2015. He dropped that particular plan in 2016, so before Brexit could be blamed for our later and current woes.
