Coffey's Reforms Could Cure NHS's Never-Ending Crisis

'We're lagging behind other nations when it comes to saving lives'

- Tim Newark

HEALTH Secretary Coffey is a "laser-like Therese promising focus" on the needs of NHS patients, including seeing GPs within two weeks. The never-ending crisis of our health service needs more practical solutions and no-nonsense Coffey is determined to deliver them.

A shortage of doctors will be addressed by reforming the pension taxes that sees them retiring earlier so their pension pot is left intact.

A recent British Medical Association survey revealed that 72 per cent of their members retire early, with pay cuts and punitive pension taxation being the biggest drivers of this.

It costs a lot to train a doctor - estimated at £230,000 by the Department of Health - and to lose these experts to early retirement or a preferred part-time work-life balance is not sustainable.

Coffey wants to see more medical practitioners, such as pharmacists, given the authority to write prescriptions, thus reducing the workload on GPS. In return, the health secretary demands that patients be given an appointment with a GP within two weeks or sooner, or the same day if necessary.

The number of patients facing over two-week waits to see a GP has risen from 3.1 million people last year to 3.9 million this year - one in seven patients in the UK.