Myhatmycoat

Good Afternoon Mr GreenKnight.

I reflected on this on my commute to the city this morning squashed in the train, filled to the brim, and no sign of a cup of tea anywhere. Hmmm let me think....... that sounds like a normal day on a ward to me.

35 years in the NHS is in deed an admirable service - and I genuinely tip my cap to you sir for that. Anyone that stays in one industry dilligently for 35years, and still has unwaivering support for thier employer - deserves to be respected.

I commend you for holding firm to your ideals - it is part of our society that recognises we are all different that makes the UK the best place to live. I wish you a happy and propsperous retirement with your lovely tax payer supported CPI linked final salary pension attached.

No disrespect to you sir - Im bored with this.

Lets go and see what other havoc I can create by giving a balanced argument elsewhere.

Toodle loo.

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 !

Not Bruised at all Bobby, after all not all will see things through one eye.

Thank you for such a warm and embracing welcome. I feel comfortable in the bosom of such genuine fellowship.

You seem to know a lot more about the landscape of Healthcare than I do so I will of course bow to what is obviously a greater degree of knowledge about this environment. I clearly know nothing.

I described the availability as brilliant - and that was my experience.

I don't relish going to the doctor any more than any other - but I am balanced in my view about the service I get, as long as it is what what I need when I need it. Thats what was perfect.

After all - we don't pay to see the doctor here in the UK as they do in other parts of the world - so I don't mind getting what I percieve as a good service, funded by my taxes, and why shouldn't we recognise that.

I guess if your glass is 1/2 full - itsa different perspective to that when it's 1/2 empty, got a crack in it - and someone knocks it over on thier way outside to throw stones at thier reflection.

For the record - Like you, I have no interest in Taurus - but unlike you its clear you know someone who is a lot closer to this than I am.

I'm dismayed that this company is being so poorly portrayed by the ill informed.

Have any of the posters to this forum actually used the 7 day service that Taurus offers?

I have - It's brilliant ! I saw a GP at a convenient time - that didn't require me to take a day off work. Perfect !

The other patients who I have spoken to absolutely love it.

Why shouldn't GP's be paid what they are worth in the market ? It's not like we are buying apples from a local orchard !

Have you not seen - there is a shortage of GP's nationally - and if thats what they can earn - after 6 years at university, 4 years of post graduate study, and really bad work life balance - who are we to criticise some of the brightest people in our community for being paid properly - would we rather they left and moved to London to earn the same money ?

Crackers !