Good doctors do not come cheap - BMA
PROVIDING qualified doctors of a high standard does not come cheap, the local spokesman for the British Medical Association has warned.
Responding to proposals being considered by Health and Social Services – looking at possible changes to the way it manages the number of GPs – Dr Brian Parkin, pictured, said while 'we would all welcome a reduction in prices', a good health service was a 'phenomenally expensive business'.
On behalf of GPs, he said: 'I think everybody would like costs to be brought down, but I am not sure whether that is a benefit of these proposals.
'Obviously, providing high-quality people to work to high standards within a properly organised regulated framework is not cheap.
'The problem is people tend to confuse the amount they pay with the total costs of running the service.
building, computers, administration etc.'
HSSD outlined two options as part of its consultation, but plumped for setting criteria for GPs to meet if they are to be given access to the parts of the system paid for by the States over total deregulation of the market.
It hoped the cost of visiting a doctor would fall.
