Here are two facts about British healthcare that not enough people know.
First, GPs don’t work for the NHS. They are private contractors who sell services to the NHS via GP partnerships which are profit-making businesses owned by GPs.
Second, the British Medical Association is not a medical body. It’s a trade union for doctors, representing the financial interests of medics including GPs and their profit-making partnerships.
These two facts should be known by any voter thinking about politicians and health policy. Yet many people appear unaware of them. That’s partly thanks to poor journalism. And it’s partly thanks to the success of general practitioners and the BMA in wrapping themselves in the NHS flag in order to conceal their true nature.
The misperception that GPs are part of the beloved NHS undoubtedly boosts their social clout and negotiating power. And that power delivers cash for GPs. The most recent data shows that GP pay increased by 11.1 per cent during the financial year 2020-21. The average GP partner – meaning a part-owner of one of those profit-making businesses – earned £142,000.
General practice is undoubtedly a tough job and there are problems of recruitment and retention. But it’s also a very well-paid occupation, not least because of the political skill GPs and their union have shown in the way they present themselves to the public.
Those two facts above should be held in mind when considering coverage of Sir Keir Starmer’s weekend remarks about health policy. Starmer, like his health spokesman Wes Streeting, has been talking about shaking up the primary care sector where GPs operate, suggesting that patients be able to refer themselves to NHS facilities without needing a GP to act as a gatekeeper.
Amazingly, the BMA is opposed to such a policy, which might reduce the power, status and income of GPs. This fact splashes today’s Daily Mail, along with the equally surprising news that Conservative MPs are a bit critical of a Labour policy. ‘Health experts slam Labour plan for NHS reforms’, the headline declares.
According to that Mail splash, Dr David Wrigley, of the British Medical Association, said:
The idea that self-referring to see non-GP specialists will help alleviate NHS pressure is very unlikely. In fact, it would probably have the opposite effect, and is precisely why we need GPs’ expert knowledge.
I don’t have much to say about the policy, because I don’t know enough about it, but I am happy to comment on the politics of this. And my view is that Team Starmer should be feeling pretty pleased with themselves, since being attacked by the BMA is usually a sign that a politician is on the right side of a health argument.
Look again at that Mail splash in the context of the two facts I set out above. When you see GPs and the BMA for what they are, you see that ‘Health experts slam Labour plan for NHS reforms’ really means ‘Trade union attacks Labour plans to weaken wealthy members’ vested interest’.
Now, can anyone remember what happens when Labour leaders take on trade union power in order to improve things for the wider public?
Comments