Today’s GPs are Lazy, not Overworked – Here’s the Proof
Dr Vernon Coleman
GPs are constantly complaining that they are desperately overworked. Doctors representatives say the same thing.
But the evidence proves that they are NOT overworked.
Today there are nearly twice as many GPs in England and Wales as there were in 1964 when I started medical school.
And if you look at the number of GPs per 100,000 patients the figures show that there are more GPs available than ever.
Back in 1964, there were 42 GPs per 100,000 patients.
Today, there are around 60 GPs per 100,000 patients.
And remember that GPs used to do home visits, night calls, weekend calls and calls on bank holidays.
Today, very few GPs do any of those things.
And many GPs refuse to see patients `live’ – insisting on doing their consultations over the phone or the internet.
Ring a GP’s surgery today with an emergency and you will be told to go to hospital. In the bad old days GPs would sew up wounds and deal with a whole range of emergencies.
The only possible conclusion is that GPs are not overworked.
Indeed, they do far less work than their predecessors did decades ago.
There are more GPs than ever. And they’re doing less work.
It’s not surprising that hospital Accident and Emergency departments cannot cope.
NOTE
For more information about surviving an encounter with a doctor please read `How to stop your doctor killing you’ by Vernon Coleman. You can buy a copy via the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com
And for a brief analysis of what’s wrong with the NHS, read `The NHS: What’s wrong and how to put it right’. Also available in the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com
Copyright Vernon Coleman June 2024
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