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Comment by dairylee | Hacker News Reader

The infrastructure is often insufficient for existing homes nevermind for any expansion.

I've recently moved house but I'm having to stay registered to my Dentist & Doctors 30 miles away because the wait list to get registered in my new town is months.

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They just built over 1000 homes near me, but not one dentist or doctors. Now the small local surgeries are expected to take these new households on. Again government policy not holding up to community needs.

To be fair, you can't "build" a dentist or a doctor like you can a home. First the homes come, then the residents move in. Those residents will have demands, such as health and dental care. Once those demands are heard, the doctors and dentists will finally build their offices.

Sure, this is true in a purely free-market world. But this is also why a purely free-market approach doesn't functionally work in many cases. This problem is solvable by government intervention.

> Sure, this is true in a purely free-market world.

The world we live in, yes.

> But this is also why a purely free-market approach doesn't functionally work in many cases. This problem is solvable by government intervention.

Sure, or we might end up growing the wrong crops per government order and experience massive starvation all across the country. I hope you like potatoes!

> To be fair, you can't "build" a dentist or a doctor like you can a home.

Sure you can. When you build an office block or a shopping mall do you put in toilets or do you wait till the shoppers start shopping then see if their demands include going to the bathroom?

You can build toilets just like you can homes. Toilets are standard in all homes and office buildings. You still can't build a doctor or a dentist. That takes a lot of hard work from someone who isn't you.

As disgusting as the toilets in the shops may be, they dont clean themselves. That takes a lot of hard work from someone who isn't you.

Agreed.

The problem with dentists isn't the shortage of accomodation for clinics; it's the dentists trades union restricting entry to the profession.

All the talk of NHS treatment being "free at the point of delivery" is bollocks when you're talking about dentistry; NHS dentistry isn't free, unless you're a child or a pensioner. And if you need something like a crown, you probably can't get that on the NHS at all.

The average fully-qualified GP has something like 2,300 patients registered to them.

If you assume 2.5 people per household for those new homes, their needs would be met by the addition of a single GP to an existing surgery.

Then consider that the typical buyers of new builds will be younger and healthier than average.

And that of those ~2,500 new residents, some are likely to be doctors themselves who would otherwise be unable to live in the area.

And that GP surgeries are private for-profit businesses.

And you realise the issues are more complex than they might at first seem.

There's a shortage of GPs. Two of the small local surgeries near me have reduced opening times because they don't have the staff to staff them. The need is still there - the villages are growing, but the villagers have to travel to the next village if they're lucky enough to be able to get an appointment.

Doctor only 30 miles away? Luxury!

It’s unrealistic for me to get treatment from a GP in my area so I simply travel thousands of miles away to another country once a year for treatment.

Thousands more homes being built as well, so this isn’t changing any time soon.

Travelling to another country for treatment sounds like the luxury to be honest. The unluxury would be no health care, or travelling 100 miles within the UK by train/bus.

Having to wait 6 months for treatment isn’t luxury, what are you talking about. That’s effectively no health care.

I am contesting the "having" part of that sentence. The UK has problems, but it is not a country in dire straits.

To be clear: We are talking about GP right? To say get your blood pressure checked, or some mild antibiotics, or a rash cream, or referral to specialist? Not a specific treatment or surgery.

GPs gatekeep a most referrals, it's often virtually impossible to get any substantial treatment or surgery unless referred by a GP. Furthermore, for NHS treatments, it has to be a referral from an NHS GP, so you can't simply pay for a private GP to check something out.

Or, you can just wait for it to become bad enough that you go directly from A&E to inpatient care.

Having to wait 6 months is not as bad as having no other option. Although, I do empathize for your inability to go somewhere local and need of another option.

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