Polly Toynbee describes how overstretched general practice is expected to manage hospital-revealed coronary calcification (Ben Shankland is a GP, but the rightwing press would tell you he’s an enemy of the people. Don’t listen, 16 January). But it is the NHS – over-managed and over-protocolised – that is itself sclerotic.
Since retirement as a NHS consultant, I have moved from working for the NHS to waiting for it. In the past month, following complications of a dubiously necessary investigation, my wife and I have spent an hour on the phone trying to contact her GP; waited 12 hours in A&E before seeing a relevant doctor; returned a few days later to be told her appointment was cancelled; then waited in all day for a similarly cancelled appointment. All could have been avoided had she had access to a GP who knew her and her history. Continuity? Care?
