Die Jess-Regel wird in allen Hausarztpraxen in England beworben

As harsh as it sounds a few posters isn’t going to change how overworked our GP system is. They simply don’t have time to give patients proper checks and do their other duties.

Although I admire the family for this campaign, the problem is systemic. 

GP surgeries in some areas (I can’t speak for all) have definitely been given targets in the past such as “reduce the number of referrals by 10%”, and it has caused anguish amongst GPs who say “I only refer when I believe it’s the best course of action – which 10% of the deserving referrals do you want me to send away instead?!”

It’s not always lack of awareness that they should refer younger people – at times, it will be the obvious “least risky” choice of patient to deny referral, to avoid repercussions from the local NHS governance.

Fund. The. NHS.

I worry these posters won’t change much without underlying changs to the national targets and funding arrangements for GP practices. Increasingly GPs are asked not to refer or even test patients, while some systems pre-flag patients as being more like to have ‚Medically Unexplained Symptoms‘, a somatizing disorder (and this disproportionately affects women.)

The government dont want to examine the structural reasons behind this case because it would be expensive. So they issue this vague guidance to GPs which pulls them in two different directions.

Putting posters in GP surgeries isn’t something they do to change the way GPs behave. It is something they do to make the public think they are doing something about it.

All this will do is encourage patients to demand more tests whether they need them or not.

Laws and rules named after someone are almost always counter-productive. Pretty much by definition they apply to rare cases, and they tend to redirect disproportionate amount of effort and attention to those rare cases.

My GP surgery already has 100 posters on the wall. This won’t be read by 99% of people

My experiences with GP’s over the past 2 decades has been either, ignore what you say outright, listen and do a quick check then say they can’t find the problem and send you away, or just prescribe you something without checking.

I was told I am T2 Diabetic about 5 years ago but barely met the criteria and put on the meds for it, my blood sugar lowed very quickly back to normal levels and the meds helped me feel better and had less cravings to binge eat or have things with sugar, I stopped getting hypos. then 2 years ago they said as my blood sugar is within normal rage they are stopping the meds, and since then I quickly gained weight, im 4 stone heavier than I was 2 years ago, more tired etc and crave sugar a lot but my GP and practise nurse refuses to put me back on saying my blood sugar is normal.

I got prescribed a medication that is banned in a few countries due to its extreme side effects even though it does work for me, the side effect I get from it is exhaustion and higher appetite!

This rule still doesn’t change the NICE guidelines though, referrals can be rejected for not fitting the flow chart correctly. 

The NHS seems to be run by people who just care about how statistics looks rather than people who care. It’s exhausting for the people actually dealing with patients.

My own example is cancer diagnosis/treatment targets, yes it’s all well and good getting more patients in for tests, but if pathology are receiving more samples but don’t have enough staff or equipment/resources to process all the samples in a timely manner no-one is seeing any benefit. 

If more referrals are being made there needs to be more staff processing them and also in the clinics, in the lab. More resources, more operating theatres, more space and equipment for all departments involved.