National standards for patients

The government intends to introduce national standards that will enable patients and concerned observers to compare medical practices online, and potentially identify poorly performing doctors.

This comes after  political analysis of a new report revealed  30% of doctors have only a rudimentary understanding of human physiology and inappropriately low expectations, passing up opportunities to motivate and engage patients.

 

The government accused doctors of scaremongering in response to concerns that the proposed standards/league tables will result in medical practices choosing to see only minor injuries and turning away truly ill patients. Doctors are also concerned that  local After Hours centres will close and overload hospital A&E departments, putting intolerable stress on an already stressed health system. Doctors claims that it will be difficult to recruit and retain good doctors is "a nonsense" said the health minister "after all recruitment and retention are supported through the government's system of student loans, scholarships and bonding".

The PM observed doctors  have a vested interest in having a job for life in our health system and that doctors are afraid of change, resisting  initiatives such as the move to low-cost generic drugs for the treatment of various ailments.   "Doctors need to get over themselves" he said, "after-all everyone knows that health outcomes are predicated on quality doctors not the life situation of the patient".