Star comment: The age of the friendly family doctor available at short notice seems to be over
The public sector’s recovery from the pandemic continues, albeit slowly. According to the latest data from the NHS it now takes less time to book a GP’s appointment than at any time since the pandemic.
Yet we would be foolish to believe that services are to the standard that the general public would desire. It still takes too long to see a GP and the age of the friendly family doctor seems to have passed. These days, there are online consultations and many surgeries continue to dissuade people from visiting.
One of the problems is funding, or, rather, the lack of it. There are structural issues in our health service where there are too few doctors in addition to too few being trained. Potential employees are being put off as they express concern about the long hours, the challenging working environment and the fact that doctors feel unsupported by the Government.
So while there have been improvements in recent times, we are still a long way from where we should be.
We are about to enter the busiest time of the year for our health services and the pressure will increase again. Covid is much less serious an issue than it was during the past two years, though it remains problematic – particularly for the elderly, clinically vulnerable and others with underlying health issues.
Figures showing that the number of GPs falling indicates that underlying issues remain for this vitally important service.
The challenges that Rishi Sunak’s Government faces are considerable, yet such key public services as health, education and defence must be well-resourced.
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The political machinations in Westminster have taken attention from other issues that would otherwise be prominent.
First among those is the vast profits for energy companies, who have been raking in untold profits at a time when fuel prices are sky high and when people can barely afford to turn on the heating. Oil giant Shell continued to build on 2022’s record results as it added nearly 10 billion dollars in extra profit to its balance sheet. Shell’s results will reignite the debate on the profits such companies are making at a time when people and businesses are wrestling with spiralling costs. It will leave a very bitter taste in the mouth of those struggling to make ends meet as winter looms.
The case for a windfall tax is compelling, particularly at a time when the Government’s mini-budget created a financial black hole that will lead to tens of billions’ worth of cuts.
