The NHS is ripe for reform – even its most ardent hand-clapping devotees can hardly deny that. But before Matt Hancock pulls the plug on a health service for all – to be ‘saved’ for the vaccine-compliant only – here’s your chance to help put the ailing National Health Service on the road to recovery by suggesting solutions.
Richard Tice has already argued in TCW that GPs should be paid by results. But how would you tackle the problems? We’d like to hear from you. Today, we begin with a radical plan from Malcolm Parkin …
THE problem with the NHS is lack of access. At present it is impossible to see a GP, and when granted a phone appointment with one, their role is clearly to keep unwell people away from hospital.
NHS24 in Scotland is a sad and dangerous joke, as any who have tried it will confirm, and A&E – to which many people turn in final desperation – is equally keen to keep you out of the wards.
Indeed, the NHS seems to have shut down, and now has a preferred patient profile of someone who arrives dead and is merely a paperwork task.
The time is here for change, and the takeaway and fast-food industry perhaps provide the profile for a future self-serve rapid-result service with easy and instant access by stages. The CEO of the new NHS would preferably be from a fast-food chain such as McDonald’s, or from a supermarket group.
The GP layer is scrapped, and GPs are taken into new-style hospitals where someone feeling ill can arrive at any time on foot, or by car or ambulance.
According to what seems to be the problem, you present yourself at the appropriate entrance for assessment and examination, before being admitted further or moved to the correct intake column.
Further investigation takes place, and the problem is eventually dealt with that day by means of diagnosis and medication and discharge, or the patient is admitted to a ward that day as well.
All tests are performed there and then as required. There is no coming back later for results. Each new-design hospital will have numerous laboratories on site.
Whatever treatment is appropriate is delivered, at whatever stage is appropriate, including admission for surgery or other procedures. Recuperation after surgery takes place on site and discharge is as soon as possible, with medication provided instantly from an adjacent facility, probably designed and run by a former Amazon executive.
So now we have eliminated all delay and duplication and probably reduced costs. No long referral procedures. No ‘come back and see me again in six weeks.’ Just a seamless and continuous process that delivers a result in short order.
