84 Patients per Day?

Here’s a dispatch from the British General Practitioner blog PULSE, where doctors are debating whether they should get paid per visit.

“At the moment, GP workload is out of control, while care is becoming more and more complex. GPs feel overwhelmed.
For the first time in 25 years, my surgeries have begun to run late consistently and, as Pulse recently reported, GPs are beginning to report seeing as many as 84 patients in one day.
The NHS has served us well and was established, either by accident or design, to maximise financial efficiency and minimise gaming and it’s amazing how a system of remuneration established nearly 70 years ago still works so well.
However, hospitals have already moved from a population-based funding model to a per-contact system, despite the increased risk of gaming, fragmented care and higher costs. If GPs want to survive, they must switch too.”

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/practice-income/should-gps-be-paid-per-consultation/20007081.article#.U7Ceraa9LYU