WHEN Scottish Labour unveiled their big election promise - vote for us and you'll get a GP surgery appointment within 48 hours - I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
At a time when the cracks are beginning to show in the Scottish health service, when Labour themselves accuse the SNP of using a sticking-plaster to cover the holes, this is their number one announcement?
Firstly, it's not a new policy. Scotland had this very target for a number of years and patients were surveyed to find out if practices were achieving it. You can still find the results on-line. In 2013-14, 92% of patients said they had 48 hour access.
Secondly, the goal was dropped because it wasn't really working.
Some of the frustrations patients have with obtaining convenient GP appointments are actually caused by keeping slots free so people can get seen the same day they fall ill if necessary. It's one of the reasons there is the fastest-finger-first system - where you have to choose between waiting two weeks for a scheduled slot or picking up the phone at 8am every morning and trying to get one of the reserved "same day" appointments.
Thirdly, it is abundantly clear that GPs (along with many social care and hospital services) are struggling to cope with their workload. This will not be remedied by telling the public that they are entitled to be seen within two days, whatever their ailment. We have a growing elderly population and tight public finances: priorities across the NHS need to be sensitive and sensible. A whole string of services need to respond rapidly to those who are at risk including GPs, nurses, social care services and hospital diagnostics. Patients who feel very unwell or worried sick should not face long waits either. But to guarantee an appointment at the GP surgery within 48 hours to all who want one is at best out of touch.
I was once told constituents complain more to MSPs about access to GPs than anything else. I don't know if this is true, but it might explain how this became a Scottish Labour pledge in a back-of-an envelope kind of way. They knew it would be popular, and perhaps whether it was achievable or practical became secondary concerns.
At hustings hosted by the British Medical Association in Scotland, where doctors quizzed the spokespeople for health across the different parties, Scottish Labour's Jenny Marra was at pains to point out the promise did not mean patients had to see a GP within 48 hours - just any member of the practice team. I think this reflected her own convenient interpretation of the audience's concerns. Targets have a time and a place in the NHS, but if they had really listened to a myriad of voices about healthcare Scottish Labour would have heard them saying this: While we keep throwing money at meeting guarantees, health and care services fail to solve the problems which threaten the very survival of our beloved system.
Pretty pledges about the NHS this election are only about power. It's those who talk about balancing tricky decisions to sustain the service we love, who genuinely care about patients.
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