NationStates Jolt Archive

And here I thought everything was wonderful in the world of Socialized Medicine... Hummmmm?

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/504046?src=mp

British Doctors Losing All Morale, Says Lancet


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LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) Apr 29 - British doctors are suffering from a catastrophic collapse of morale in the massively over-managed health service, The Lancet said on Friday.
An editorial the week before the election said the campaign focus on scare stories such as killer superbugs had compounded the problem.
"Politicians have all failed to address the single most important factor hindering the improvement of health services - the catastrophic collapse in morale among doctors," the authoritative magazine said.
Most decisions taken within the NHS were for "mostly irrelevant managerial gratification," it added and criticised politicians' focus on talking about the patient as a consumer.
"Patients are not consumers. They are patients, pure and simple," it said.
A string of damning headlines on the state of the health service greeted the start of the election campaign as each party sought to portray themselves as the guardian of an institution that employs 1.3 million workers.
Labour says it has already invested heavily in the service but the editorial said the focus on putting the patient first, a theme touted by the three main parties, was missing the point.
It described Health Secretary John Reid's comments that the patient should take control of prescribing medicines and surgery as "manifest nonsense."
"Doctors want to strengthen their professional morale because they know that a more robust and motivated profession will mean better outcomes for patients," The Lancet said. "Currently no politician recognises this truth."
r.com 2005;

Yup, our NHS isn't the most wonderful thing on the planet. But hey, at least we have one. I've had cause to be grateful for it on several occasions.

Incidentally, I've never heard of The Lancet, so it can't be a hugely well-known source. I'm not sure how credible it is (although there's definitely some truth in the above article).

Yup, our NHS isn't the most wonderful thing on the planet. But hey, at least we have one. I've had cause to be grateful for it on several occasions.

Incidentally, I've never heard of The Lancet, so it can't be a hugely well-known source. I'm not sure how credible it is (although there's definitely some truth in the above article).

The Lancet is a major medical scientific magazine, much like 'Nature'.

And the British healthcare isn't all that "socialized" anymore... But I think you already know that...

It will be interesting to see how many more socialized systems and over managed systems begin to crumble over the 20 years as a result of disenchanted docs and with all the current dis-incentives for going into Medicine.

Incidentally, I've never heard of The Lancet, so it can't be a hugely well-known source. I'm not sure how credible it is (although there's definitely some truth in the above article).
Lancet is most peculiar source. It can be trusted when it says UK doctors are low on morale. When it estimates the civilian deaths in Iraq to be 100.000, it isn't credible at all. So basically, it's your average source.

The Lancet is a major medical scientific magazine, much like 'Nature'.

Gotcha. The thing that made me a bit leary of it was this quote:

It described Health Secretary John Reid's comments that the patient should take control of prescribing medicines and surgery as "manifest nonsense."

I know doc. usually does know best, but at the end of the day it's my body and I decide what surgery is done on it and what medications go into it. That's not "manifest nonsense", that's basic rights.

Keep in mind that even reliable sources sometimes carry biased editorials and opinions. Although I'm not debating that morale is rather low in the NHS at the moment.