Listen and learn

The more recent utterances of David Cameron and Andrew Lansley, the embattled Health Secretary, suggest that they remain committed to giving unprecedented financial powers to GP surgeries.

It is an approach that does not inspire confidence for many reasons, not least the lack of public accountability and misgivings about the effectiveness of many local surgeries.

As well as the view that GPs are primarily trained in medicine rather than accounting, there also remain genuine concerns about the level of service provided to some patients – and their failure to put in place adequate customer care procedures.

These are two-fold. First, it appears that some surgeries, including many in South Yorkshire, are still expecting patients to use premium-rate phone lines to make appointments. This is morally wrong and the appropriate health body needs to penalise those doctors that continue to flout the Government’s guidelines.

Second, the actual appointments system is unfit for purpose in many instances, with doctors putting rules in place that prioritise their interests over the specific needs of patients.

This is not good enough, as the main political leaders reiterate at every election. People requiring medical treatment should not have to ring back repeatedly before a fresh batch of appointments are released; they should be given a slot instantaneously.

In order to prove that his “listening” review is not just a cosmetic exercise, Mr Cameron should remedy these concerns forthwith.