Result?? Part 2

In Result?? I discussed a Lord's Debate about the provision of pre-hospital care by BASICS doctors last year, and mentioned that there was to be a further debate on 23rd March. Here is the link to the latest debate. So, what news from the Lords? Have we got the Government recognition this time round? Have a guess!

To summarise, it is up to individual Strategic Health Authorities to decide how they provide pre-hospital care. There will be no cenral steer from the Government. There will be no central funding for BASICS. Despite the evidence provided in the debate, including the estimate of numbers of lives that could be saved by having a doctor available to go out 24/7 to the scene of a major accident, the final word was, essentially, "Carry on, lads, you're doing a great job!"

Why on Earth would a SHA put money into setting up a system that is already run on a voluntary basis? Why pay someone when they already do it for free? Please don't get me wrong; I don't want to be paid for what I do. What I do want is the equipment to do the job to the best of my ability, and the ability to equip more doctors in my area, so that I can spend time with Mrs RapidResponseDoc, and with all my little RapidResponseDocs, without having to feel that I am letting anyone down. Alternatively, let my current employer be paid something towards releasing me to go out to scene, so that they can employ other doctors to cover my back when I am not around.

The Government has spoken...