john ashcroft
Recent activity
Comments (9)
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Comment on: STI drive 'a waste of money' - NAO
PCTs are supposed to develop primary care services to reduce health inequalities. It maybe that this is a difficult job for them to do. But to fail to spend the money just suggests, like PBC, they are just not trying.
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Comment on: Tory plan could give GPs interest bonanza
The fact that this has become on of the most commented on stories, when it is a total "non-story" says something else..... the total, and gutteral mistrust of managers of clinicians, especially GPs. This is why PBC is failing just about everywhere.
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Comment on: Community contraception clinics grow in popularity
Its all very interesting, or maybe not. The teenage pregnacy strategy has been going for over 10years now. They always like to take the data from 1998, the peak after the pill scare of October 1995 that pushed up rates for several years, similar to previous scares. But the teenage pregnacy strategy didnt spend any money until April 2000, and posts were not filled to 2001. If you take from the 2001 data the teenage pregnacy strategy hasnt had any impact at all. And the significance of a few more patients going to community contraception clinics?... none. There is no evidence that better access to community clinics reduces teenage pregnacy rates... BMJ 2000;320:842–5
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Comment on: ‘Clunky’ GP contracts raise questions on quality
PCTs should be spending £175/patient in 2009-10. That is the percentage designated by the funding formula. This is for general practice, premises (about £10/patient), IT (about £3) and OOH. The big story should not just be about the variation, but the faillure to level up. Yes, taxpayers should see a return for there money but remember PCT are so named because there most important function is to develop primary care. As it is through investment in primary care that you can reduce health inequalities. This doesnt happen with secondary care. The risk is that PCTs will cut back PMS, OOHs budgets but we know that more doctors we have in primary care the better outcomes for patients and lower the overall cost for the health care system. If PCTs dont learn to spend MORE money effectively in primary care, overall costs will go up and outcomes will go down.
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Comment on: Leaked memo reveals DH frustration over mixed-sex wards
I work as a doctor in a community hospital and chair the medical staff committee. We have two wards, and both are mixed with single gender bays. I have asked why we can not move to single sex wards on a number of times over the years but on every occasion I'm assured that it is not operationally possible. However older patients tell me that the old hospital also had two wards - one male and one female. While I would not wish to be seen to give succour to Alan Johnson, even pigheaded politicians can be right. Sometimes.
