David Widgery on radical general practice in the 1980s
Apr 22, 01:28 PM
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05.22 -> 06.42
“I don't think even the most hostile Tories anticipate the abolition of the health service. I think what is more emerging is a two-tier system in which the very excellent health service is predominantly for those who privately insure and pay, and they’re a growing number. And the rest of the health service is somewhat of the second-tier system. I think that primary care, the general practice and the associated health centres and so on, they are very slow at getting off the ground - painfully slow - are experiencing something of a genuine renaissance at the moment. I think there is probably more going on in primary care and among general practitioners, some more radical experiments, and paradoxically, the independent contractor status, which many of us would feel is rather the small shopkeeper mentality, where the GP has to contract rather than is a salaried person. Paradoxically, that protected sheltered status has allowed more radically minded general practitioners the room to manoeuvre independently. And I think I'm impressed reading the material from general practitioners, their research and periodicals and so on, how much pioneering outreach work is going on involving prevention, screening and so on.”
Interviewed by Michael Neve in 1982 (Wellcome Collection).
“I don't think even the most hostile Tories anticipate the abolition of the health service. I think what is more emerging is a two-tier system in which the very excellent health service is predominantly for those who privately insure and pay, and they’re a growing number. And the rest of the health service is somewhat of the second-tier system. I think that primary care, the general practice and the associated health centres and so on, they are very slow at getting off the ground - painfully slow - are experiencing something of a genuine renaissance at the moment. I think there is probably more going on in primary care and among general practitioners, some more radical experiments, and paradoxically, the independent contractor status, which many of us would feel is rather the small shopkeeper mentality, where the GP has to contract rather than is a salaried person. Paradoxically, that protected sheltered status has allowed more radically minded general practitioners the room to manoeuvre independently. And I think I'm impressed reading the material from general practitioners, their research and periodicals and so on, how much pioneering outreach work is going on involving prevention, screening and so on.”
Interviewed by Michael Neve in 1982 (Wellcome Collection).