I am sure that I have banged on at length about GP's before - if not it seems a stunning oversight on my part. Anyway, they have been in the news again regarding their resistance to polyclinics which, they argue, will jeopardise patient well-being. Critics have argued that they are merely angry about losing income.
I tend to be on the side of the critics - largely as the welfare of patients often seems to take a back seat to the convenience of GPs in today's surgeries. They work nice comfy office hours, avoid house-calls like the plague (demand one - it's a good way of getting that elusive surgery appointment), they use locum services (of mixed quality) to avoid ever once having to get out of bed, and they get paid a fortune for offering what is, at best, an adequate service.
My own GP has an appointment system that seems to be predicated on the idea that if you want to see the doctor you have to be really, really desperate. They recently introduced an on-line booking service which helps, but you still get the distinct impression that they don't really want to hear from you (though of course that could be the fault of the over-keen receptionists who seem to view themselves as guardians of the doctors free time). The GPs don't take blood - instead they send you to the local hospital - this doesn't strike me as sensible, environmentally friendly or kind - surely it makes more sense for them to do it, and one van to collect all the samples - rather than one central clinic with a massive packed carpark outside. Is it me?
Competence is a problem too - the assumption often seems to be that you are probably a malingerer or hysterical (my mum had a potentially life threatening Pulmonary Embolism diagnosed as stress, a friend's mum had her fatal ovarian cancer identified as irritable bowel disease and see todays G2 Guardian for the outcome of negligent treatment of a young woman - and her subsequent disfigurement). I worked in a hospital, side by side, with lots a great doctors - we used to wince at the decisions that GPs made and the trouble they had gone to, making sure that their patients nearly died before getting specialist help.
I think that it wouldn't be a bad idea if GPs were salaried employers in mini-hospitals, rather than self-employed small businesses (necessarily promoting profit). I had a lovely GP when I was a child, who came to your house, even in the middle of the night, saw you within 15 minutes of turning up at his surgery (without an appointment) and knew your name and all your previous illnesses by heart. If polyclinics killed off these wonderful people that would indeed be tragic. But you know, and I know, that your GP is an idle, money-grabbing, barely competent self-promoter. Send them to the polyclinics!