Oh Jolly Good. What a fabulously balanced perspective.
Lets go back to the beginning of my engagement here. I initially wrote on this blog - because I had a good experience of this organisation and the service offered by people who work within it, and I felt that the rhetoric here was not a fair reflection on them. That view hasn't changed, and actually - I'm more concerned about the everyday staff who are part of this company - knowing that there is a section of society that has this unbalanced view about what they are doing !
Whilst I knew the voicing a divergent and supportive view would prompt a backlash - and the devil in me says thats more than OK - what I am more interested in (now) is what motivates people to be so directly opposed to what the NHS themselves describe as innovation.
Illustrations anyone ?
Did we reject chemotherapy for cancer, because that was and is still created by the evil that is private industry taking some cash from the NHS - I doubt it.
When we last visited the dentist - did we object to local anaesthetic - because that was created by a profiteering corporate entity - that was taking money out of the NHS. I doubt that too.
Did anyone say - Oh no - don't give me that new Dynamic Hip Replacement Joint, because that too was developed partly by taking money from the NHS - and oh dear I wouldn't want that - I will have the one I prepared earlier with clay from my mothers garden.
But the GP's of this fair county should be burned at the stake for daring to be different. It's time to get a grip.
My cohesive reflection on this somewhat disjointed and fragmented thread is (and granted there are some quite lucid views)
there are users, voicing a somewhat personal dislike of Taurus. Some of this seems driven clearly by an abundance of what prima facie seems "Insider Information". That doesn't feel at all balanced to me.
there are some that want to articulate concern about the decay in the provision of our NHS services, I don't disagree with that, but that isn't a direct result of a new organisation forming and filling a gap in the market.
there are those that have a disproportionately biased view of what the GP should and shouldn't do / how much they should work, and when they do anything extra - this should be done - for free ! Try telling that to your plumber or electrician when you need one out of hours.
I took the time to read the GP contract from 2005 that Green Knight refers too - yes - sad I know, but reading it - one gets a clear understanding that the negotiating out of out of hours visiting and appointments - was done in return for a REDUCTION of the capitation based payment.
And as for those lamenting the innovation that is the computer in General Practice - and would rather see a reliance on the good old fashioned "knowing the patient" method of medical record management. Oh dear - in an increasingly complex clinical environment - where there is an abundance of co-morbidity and correlation - nope - we don't want that sort of innovation - I'd rather run the risk of dying because my GP forgot that they couldn't give me medication "A" with medication"B"
That isn't the "modern standard of healthcare" that I want for my family, and it shouldn't be for yours either !