Day Ruined by Wonks

My day entirely ruined by going to a GP meeting with the new CEO of the PCT and Chair of the Strategic Health Authority. I knew I shouldn't have gone. 90 minutes of unadulterated manager speak. The only use would have been to have set up a game of Jargon Bingo, when you cross off phrases like "aspirational targets" "patient oriented" and "communication". Only we didn't get it together to set up the Bingo cards. We did (I say we - a handful of GPs and an armful of practice managers) set up some questions, but the SHA chair filibustered on them. Total waste of time. When they went it got worse, as we had a presentation on Choose and Book, where we offer patients 4 - 5 different places to go to when we refer them. This is a total waste of time as we do not have any meaningful availability of Outpatient places.

The most interesting part was a sotto voce discussion with a neighbour as to whether the detachment from reality represented by this kind of managerial tinkering is better characterised as psychotic or dissociative.

It must have been a bit like this during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Then came back to a staff meeting to discuss what would happen if, as seems likely, we cannot get anyone to take over the practice. Cannot say I blame them. Who would want to take over a practice in the New NHS, implementing stupid initiatives dreamed up by Bliar and the policy wonks in the NHS think tanks?