I’m a glass half full kind of chap (especially when it comes to Urgent Treatment Centres)

Last Friday started off wet and it continued to rain for much of the day. Having got ahead in achieving my ‘must do list’, I decided I would take myself off to the Glasform Studio, located not so far away from me in an old shippon at Pointer House Farm, Singleton. John Ditchfield is the Master Glass Blower there and has been designing and making wonderful piece of glassware for some 30 years. If you are in the area, the studio is well worth a visit. John has an interesting history. Although originally, he was training to be a commis chef in his mother’s hotel, glass blowing is his first true love. He has tried his hand at other ways of earning a living, including running a convenience store, selling bags and bras at markets, and even making clothes and hessian shopping bags to sell. 

Orphaned young and needing to find funds to rent the caravan he was living in, he took a Summer job as an apprentice to the Italian Master Glassblower from Murano, Franco Toffolo, and it was Toffolo who over seven years taught John the basic, yet complicated, techniques of Venetian glassmaking. These days he specialises in producing bespoke antiques of the future as well as fabulous architectural glass work. I couldn’t begin to afford some of his bigger pieces, so contented myself by purchasing four glass shells to complement a set of eggs cups J had gifted me. If you are in the area, you can also see some examples of his architectural work, as he was commissioned to create two huge hanging chandeliers for one of our local Urgent Treatment Centres here on the Fylde coast.

Now I’m a big fan of these centres. Earlier in the year I wrote a blog about a visit I had to make to this centre. A lot of you seemed to have liked that particular blog - if you missed it you can find it here. Urgent Treatment Centres are GP-led and open for at least 12 hours a day, every day. The one I attended was well equipped and staffed and you could either make an appointment or just walk in. Whilst I have a GP, I have not actually met her face-to-face (I’m told my personal GP is a lady called Janet). I don’t mind, as I’ve not really had a reason to consult with her yet (and long may that be the case). I have a couple of repeat prescriptions, which I order online, and when I did need to see someone, and urgently too, it was easier to go the Urgent Treatment Centre than try and make an appointment to see Janet. The Urgent Treatment Centre spookily had access to my complete health record so there wasn’t a problem in continuity of care. 

Across the UK they were set up to provide an alternative to A&E departments. They are certainly more than capable of diagnosing and dealing with most of the common problems that drive people to attend A&E. The idea behind their introduction was that it would leave A&E departments more able to treat the most serious of cases. It’s a great idea. The UK population is more or less united in their thinking that A&E services are overused or used unnecessarily (some 86% of all people surveyed). This statistic is one of the many results obtained from the first ever large-scale research into attitudes to emergency care. The study (the British Social Attitudes Survey) was undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research. It revealed some significant differences in people’s perspectives due to socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, number of young children in the household and levels of deprivation. 

For example, whilst 86% was the overall figure, if you asked someone aged over 65 years old then this figure rises to 94% of folk who think that A&E are used unnecessarily. As might be expected, the figure falls to 79% when you ask Generation Z (those aged 18-24) the same question. Mind you, most of this group struggle to process the significance of 9/11 (it will always be a part of history to them) and unless they have grandparents like myself, they will never know what the Summer of Love and Woodstock was. For this group, A&E is there to be used, as it’s clearly easier and less personal than going to see their GP. Some 30% of current graduates prefer to use those NHS services where no appointment is required. This group are also twice as likely to research health problems online than most other folk. The research suggested that if you had a young child you might consult the internet to find out a little bit more information, but you wouldn’t necessarily use this in deciding where to seek help. As a nurse, a father and grandfather, I have also been used many times as a proxy for the internet.    

Interestingly, whilst 65% of the population have confidence in their GP, some 11% of people don’t. It’s unclear what the other 24% feel. The 11% rises to nearly 20% when those people are living in deprived areas, or parents with a child under the age of five are asked the same question. This group believe A&E doctors are much more knowledgeable than GPs and so are more likely to prefer using A&E departments rather than GPs. 

And then there are the men. Perhaps unsurprisingly, men are much less knowledgeable when it comes to contacting a GP, particularly an out of hours GP service which J is also evangelical about. They are also much less likely to contact a GP for a health problem until it becomes almost impossible for them to ignore. However, it may not always be down to men. There is some evidence that female receptionists can discourage men from coming in and making an appointment, particularly if it’s for a mental health problem. I can’t say this has been a problem for me, and indeed, in promoting the Urgent Treatment Centres, our receptionists are simply brilliant. Come on men, whatever your problem, there is a warm welcome here!