It’s hard not to be rude

It’s hard not to be rude when you listen to the news.

Headlines from the Conservative Party telling GPs that the answer to the problem* is their opening longer hours. (*not that there is a problem)

I mean. Come on.

It is not GP access that is the problem. It isn’t even the junior doctors who work defeated, in A&E departments across the country. It is the dogged approach to where money is directed.

Yes.

As my last blog said, we are rich. We have the fifth largest economy in the world. I mean – that is, people driving around in too big cars and living in too expensive houses – we have a lot. Sure, not everyone can amble around Waitrose on an empty stomach; but we have multitudes.

Scapegoat.

The origins of this word come from biblical times. In the Temple in Jerusalem, the priests would sacrifice the Paschal Lamb – the scapegoat. This was the animal barbecued instead of a person. Burn the lamb and God will be happy. God will think that the lamb is the people saying, ‘Sorry,’ and, all will be forgiven. Tabula rasa.

It is a form of bullying.

Hitler blamed the Jews for the ills of society and the rest of his country followed; Trump blames the Mexicans or the Muslims and voila. Let me see who I can blame to take the pressure off me…

The thing is, within the mixed-up world of healthcare (I am leaving social care out of this), blaming the usual suspect doesn’t get you very far. I might blame the pain my patient is experiencing on a broken rib – if they have a clot in their lung instead, the outcome will not be good; if I prescribe drug A instead of B for condition C instead of D, my patient is unlikely to recover.

Let us apportion blame and responsibility at those responsible.

Our current crisis relates to the government draining funds from social care – that is, councils across the country, a bizarre cost-saving measure based on the principles of conservatism.

Not only is the money allocated to councils squeezed; the funds provided to those delivering healthcare is left to stagnate.

The wheels keep turning – there is always more business and if you take from Peter, who robs from Paul, you are no further forwards.

A zero-sum game.

Let’s not blame the GPs. Let’s not move the responsibility to the doctors or nurses who wake and head to work with a sense of calling – a summation of what it is to be human.

Let’s go after the real baddies… avarice, greed, ego & accumulation.