3 ms·

Where Brexit Hurts: The European Nurses and Doctors Leaving London

4 points by dpflan 9y ago

dpflan 9y ago
I wonder how telemedicine can change and help situations like these; whereby medical providers are more accessible through telecommunications.
- dazc 9y ago
  We already have a version of this, it's called NHS direct. You explain your symptoms and the person at the other end of the line runs through a set of scripted questions. Real life example: I phoned once when a friend of mine thought he was having a heart attack. Some of the questions were pertinent, some not (such as: could your friend be pregnant?). After 10 minutes it was decided he wasn't having a heart attack and should make an appointment to see his GP. I believe it is possible to escalate the call to a medical professional if you know the system.
  - dpflan 9y ago
    Thanks for sharing. Did you interact with a human on the phone? Is 10 minutes too long a time for a possible emergency condition like that?
    - dazc 9y ago
      Yes it was a human but she obviously had no medical training, just asking scripted answers. Ten minutes is far too long. If someone thinks they are having a heart attack this should set a red flag for immediate professional attention? Having a professional always dealing with these calls would be the ideal but, I guess, you get back to the shortage of qualified staff problem. Also, maybe, making access easier will also encourage people to use the service more often - maybe for trivial issues too. So you end up making things even worse? I am 52 and when I was a child my parents could call our doctor at any time, even if he was at home in the middle of the night. He would come out straight away, no question. The assumption was if you had taken the trouble to call it must be serious. Often it wasn't but with children you can't take chances.
Boothroid 9y ago
There was a TV programme the other night about an employment agency in SE UK that could not find enough British workers to do the work it had on its books, and how Brexit had made things worse as many immigrants the agency was previously placing in work had returned their home countries. My thoughts on this were: those jobs were not paying enough to attract labour from the local market, but immigrants were prepared to accept lower wages; thus, the jobs were actually not viable without cheap foreign labour. This looks like a ponzi scheme to me. Does it ever end? Is the plan to continue with immigration for ever? Going by the arguments of the pro-immigration side that immigrants are net contributors then surely we should aim to have the entire population of the world living in the UK? What population do we want in the UK - 80 million? 100 million? 500 million? I would like an answer - I've noticed you never ever get one from a Remainer, because the truth is there is no plan, and whilst in the EU the UK had no control over immigration. If ending the ponzi scheme and paying enough to attract British workers means we have to get a bit poorer, so be it, I am happy to do so to hold the forces of globalism at bay just a short while longer. I like diversity, and I want it to remain - how dull and disappointing it would be to live in a world where every country is made up of the same undifferentiated global populace and culture. Or we just continue the ponzi by attracting more workers from outside the EU, e.g. Commonwealth countries, with which the UK has strong historic ties - we just get to choose the highly skilled and temporary labour we want, rather than having no choice over who comes, as is the case whilst the UK remains in the EU.

4 points by dpflan 9y ago

I wonder how telemedicine can change and help situations like these; whereby medical providers are more accessible through telecommunications.

dazc 9y ago
We already have a version of this, it's called NHS direct. You explain your symptoms and the person at the other end of the line runs through a set of scripted questions. Real life example: I phoned once when a friend of mine thought he was having a heart attack. Some of the questions were pertinent, some not (such as: could your friend be pregnant?). After 10 minutes it was decided he wasn't having a heart attack and should make an appointment to see his GP. I believe it is possible to escalate the call to a medical professional if you know the system.
- dpflan 9y ago
  Thanks for sharing. Did you interact with a human on the phone? Is 10 minutes too long a time for a possible emergency condition like that?
  - dazc 9y ago
    Yes it was a human but she obviously had no medical training, just asking scripted answers. Ten minutes is far too long. If someone thinks they are having a heart attack this should set a red flag for immediate professional attention? Having a professional always dealing with these calls would be the ideal but, I guess, you get back to the shortage of qualified staff problem. Also, maybe, making access easier will also encourage people to use the service more often - maybe for trivial issues too. So you end up making things even worse? I am 52 and when I was a child my parents could call our doctor at any time, even if he was at home in the middle of the night. He would come out straight away, no question. The assumption was if you had taken the trouble to call it must be serious. Often it wasn't but with children you can't take chances.

Boothroid 9y ago

There was a TV programme the other night about an employment agency in SE UK that could not find enough British workers to do the work it had on its books, and how Brexit had made things worse as many immigrants the agency was previously placing in work had returned their home countries. My thoughts on this were: those jobs were not paying enough to attract labour from the local market, but immigrants were prepared to accept lower wages; thus, the jobs were actually not viable without cheap foreign labour. This looks like a ponzi scheme to me. Does it ever end? Is the plan to continue with immigration for ever? Going by the arguments of the pro-immigration side that immigrants are net contributors then surely we should aim to have the entire population of the world living in the UK? What population do we want in the UK - 80 million? 100 million? 500 million? I would like an answer - I've noticed you never ever get one from a Remainer, because the truth is there is no plan, and whilst in the EU the UK had no control over immigration. If ending the ponzi scheme and paying enough to attract British workers means we have to get a bit poorer, so be it, I am happy to do so to hold the forces of globalism at bay just a short while longer. I like diversity, and I want it to remain - how dull and disappointing it would be to live in a world where every country is made up of the same undifferentiated global populace and culture. Or we just continue the ponzi by attracting more workers from outside the EU, e.g. Commonwealth countries, with which the UK has strong historic ties - we just get to choose the highly skilled and temporary labour we want, rather than having no choice over who comes, as is the case whilst the UK remains in the EU.