So, it's been a while since my last post, but this topic always gets me annoyed.
The NHS is a noble, compassionate and, for the most part, functional public health system that has improved the life expectancy of British people, funded and provided for the advancement of medicine and saved thousands and thousands of lives. These are good things, but too much power is taken away from the consumer. This has ramifications. Misdiagnosis and negligence.
A consequence of the removal of the consumer's ability to vote with their feet is the onset of great complacency amongst many doctors who work in front line medical care. Also, politics has entered the world of diagnoses, believe it or not! I provide real yet anecdotal examples from both ends of the political spectrum;
Example 1
Person goes to the GP surgery with mysterious illness.
Person complains of lethargy, aches and pains but has trouble articulating exactly how they feel.
Doctor runs a number of basic bodily function tests, finds no anomalies.
Doctor immediately assumes patient to be some kind of benefit cheat, tells them to carry on with life.
Example 2
Person goes to the GP surgery struggling with the grief caused by the death of a loved one.
Doctor decides to prescribe antidepressants combined with a medical certificate that sanctions one month off work and activates sickness entitlements, books follow-up appointment.
Follow-up appointment reveals patient to be in exactly the same position, so the cycle continues.
Both of the above examples show how the political narrative affects diagnoses and courses of action taken by doctors. Can you guess which example is right-wing and which is left-wing? Please leave a comment on which way you think they lean!
A doctor should be apolitical in their practices and at work. Bias and prejudice have no place in scientific enquiry, whether medical or not. Bias and prejudice lead to incorrect diagnoses and bad outcomes for patients. And with rates of misdiagnosis rising at an alarming rate and my personal experience with people who've fallen victims of this, I feel something must be done about this.
Don't jump to the conclusion that I think politics is the main reason for misdiagnosis. It is not. Surging numbers of patients, funding shortages and pressures put on doctors are major factors too. It's just that I find the idea politics has crept into and is influencing the minds of doctors in their work very scary. Brave New World?
Taking away the responsibility from doctors to adjudicate on medical welfare decisions will go some way to fixing this conflict of interest, but welfare adjudications should be performed by a medical professional that is unknown to the applicant/patient with the oversight of some kind of legal advisor.
A second opinion should also be one's right. Mistakes do happen, so let's implement safeguards.