Discussing the shortage of GPs, a locus GP writes:
As so often, there are several factors. Many GPs have retired early – the causes are often quoted as falling GP work earnings, disenchantment with CCGs, the CQC, and revalidation. I think more significant is the sense that we have suffered a loss of control of our work, with QOF making us ask pointless questions about emergency contraception to 45-year-olds, prescribing software pop-ups that order us around for petty savings, warnings about FGM on computers of doctors in areas with no ethnic minorities. These are very harmful to our sense of doing a worthwhile job.
And we have failed to recruit new GPs. Quite an achievement when one considers that the training is three years rather than seven, salaries are good, and there is no out-of-hours work if you don’t want it. How have the deaneries managed that? I have talked to many young doctors and most of the ones who have done F2 in general practice have felt exploited and hated it. They feel that have been chucked in at the deep end. There seems to have been lots of investment in the system for training registrars who often work at the practices of the doctors in the training hierarchy, but very little in F2 practices – who are after all the shop window that we need to perform well if we are to attract new GPs.