A Nice Little Earner

UK dentists, in 2009, earned an average of £89,062 a year. Take home. Do they earn this? the last check up I had it took around 3 minutes for the dentist to look at my teeth, a service that cost me £16. I worked out the numbers, roughly against that amount (not taking into account expenses, but also more lucrative procedures such as implants, bridges, extractions etc.), it works out at about £2000 a day, which is 10,000 a week, a staggering £400,000 a year (working only 40 weeks). No wonder it is a profession attractive to business minded parents. But this is precisely the problem. It cannot be counted a 'caring' profession when it is so lucrative, as it inevitably attracts people who are interested in making money rather than making people well. A business minded person would not be considering what is in the interest of the patient, but rather what would earn the dentist the most money, hence the large number of unnecessary treatments, misdiagnoses and the array of additional services (such as the visit to the hygienist, usually costing £30 plus, which only recently has been added as a private service, in the past, and officially still, the dentist should perform at least a scale and polish, though now a patient has to demand this as dentists can save themselves time by not doing it, though ethically this means patients teeth care is worse). I have had numerous bad dentists over the years and am so sick of the service it makes me sick. People are right to be scared of dentists - as chances are they will have worse teeth and less money as a result of visiting one. I have had root filling done badly in 1992 causing an infection leading to an unpleasant hospital operation called an apisectomy. I still have an infection 20 YEARS LATER despite numerous check-ups (£16+ a time), an unnecessary extraction that cost £200 (another dentist would have charged £400 - both nhs) and a private root filling that cost £700, all to no avail. See why I place dentists up there with Estate Agents and Bank Managers. see here: BBC NEWS 2009
General Practitioners get my goat too. They're on at least £60,000 a year take home (why it's less than dentists I don't know, they seem to do loads more work). Okay, there are some good G.P.s out there, but increasingly their job is simply Google-ing your symptoms and then prescribing the appropriate drug (the brand on which depends on which company sponsors that particular doctor see here). G.P.s are also G.P.'s because they couldn't specialise at Uni - most med students, particularly the brightest and the best specialise in order to become surgeons or specialists in a field - so yes I am implying that G.P.s are the inferior med students. Hence the high numbers of misdiagnosed patients. It is again also the case, because of the law of interests, that it is never in a doctor or drug company's interest to cure a patient, as their income stream would instantly disappear. And new 'illnesses' like depression, ADHD etc. have essentially been constructed to sell more drugs and give G.P.s more work to do. Now I have suffered depression, and have had close friends suffer it too, and I have never seen a worse attempt at a cure than Prozac. And the UK government want to put these people on £300,000 a year, with more power over surgery spending? The drug companies must be rubbing their blood covered hands with glee. For more see here.
After seeing Schneidlomat's blog post about therapists in the US, I figured I should add my thoughts about said profession here. In my not extensive experience I have found 'councelors' (there is some confusion over what defines a councelor, therapist and psychotherapist - usually it is how long they spent in college) a somewhat strange breed. The question I ask myself is what makes someone become a councelor - and my cynical modern mind leads me to think in terms of 'it seems like an easy job - I'm a people person who likes talking to people - I can't think of anything else to do.' In common with dentists it is never in a councelor's interest to 'cure' the patient as this will cut off a source of revenue, what they need is to keep you interested in seeing them, as regularly as possible. It is also their job to listen to you and talk to you but it is not their job to either care or be your friend. This can often be a problem, as depression can stem from loneliness (more common than you'd think, especially in large cities - people who have lots of friends can feel very lonely too - some friendships can be very complex and unhelpful to mental health). Now I don't have an answer I just think it is worth thinking about some of these issues before seeking 'professional' help. I can also remember Psychology undergraduates who should never be councelors telling me that that was precisely the career path they saw for themselves. Again most people see Psychology as a 'soft' subject taken by undergrads who have no clear direction in life - not the best type of person to help you sort your life out. Perhaps it is better to try speaking to close friends or relations you already trust, or writing your feelings down. And cheaper.

Unfortunately most forward thinking countries have gone via the Health Insurance, total privatisation option, and while in the UK most would not wish to lose the NHS, it seems it has already gone. Just visited a Doctor in St Gallen. Fantastic service, wonderfully clean waiting and consulting rooms, waited 30 seconds before being seen by a really nice, friendly, relaxed doctor who put me at ease and got to the bottom of my problem very quickly, and as it was a common treatment could prescribe and supply medication in house. Medication was given to me at reception, the bill would be posted to my address! I love that. The trust that exists in sending bills to people that no longer exists in the UK. Returning to the hell that is UK dentistry you now have to pay for your check up or treatment BEFORE YOU HAVE HAD IT. This is insane - they have your address on record but still there is no trust, they want your cash or debit card payment UPFRONT, so if you are dissatisfied with the service - tough. Maybe it is because many people have tried to get away without paying but society cannot work like this. If I am going to buy a car I don't go to the garage, talk to the salesman and give him a load of money before I've even seen it or given it a test drive. I don't go to the supermarket ad give a load of money to the cashier and then collect my food (unless I buy online like a lazy, agoraphobic idiot). And if the dentist's don't trust me to pay for my treatment, why should I trust them to give me a good service - this thing works both ways. I'll miss St Gallen. When the UK does lose the NHS the private care provided will be like dentistry is already, upfront, overcharged poor service, and probably not far off the massive increases in charges made by water companies with no improvement in infrastructure or the private train system where ticket prices are a lottery and there is no guarantee you'll get anywhere. While the private systems in Switzerland are expensive, the work and work well. There is pride and trust in a system that works, and the taxes seem fair, along with wage levels being sufficient to pay for health insurance etc. Unfortunately in the UK wage levels are already insufficient to pay for NHS care, so a private system would in all likelihood be disastrous.