Doctors for the rich, nurse specialists for the poor - NHS Blog Doctor from the UK speaks out

Does this sound a bit familiar with some of what is occurring here? HCP would perhaps equal a nurse practitioner here with terminology. He has included some very good videos from You Tube as well, worth taking a look. Long and short of it, the NHS in England is also cost conscious these days and they are working on their own issues with "lean healthcare". One thing that the article points out though is that unlike here, they have a surplus of physicians and some of those could actually assume the roles of a HCP if they were not able to be employed as an MD, so if that is the case you may still be seeing a qualified MD, but working with lower credentials to earn a paycheck. I don't completely understand the difference between the private doctors and the NHS as far as payment goes and where insurance may play a role in this at this point. I might guess though that perhaps there might be a few less CEO millionaires in the insurance business though. BD

In many fields of medicine the only way to be sure of seeing a qualified doctor is to go privately. Take yourself to the “free” at the point of entry NHS and most likely you will find yourself managed by some sort of “Health Care Professional” (HCP = there is no doctor available today).
This is two-tier medicine. Only the wealthy and the “great and the good” see doctors. The riff-raff get the cheapo-cheapo productions HCP.
The nurse-specialists usually counter this argument by saying that “we are just as good as doctors”. But now a new strategy has emerged. Oddly it comes from the normally excellent, multi-authored Mental Nurse column.

They are saying that the wealthy and the great and the good are now being treated by HCPs as well. (see here). Even if this were true, and it is not, would that make it any better? Put this into educational terms. Why not let teaching assistants take over at Eton and St Paul's? Bring the education in those schools down to the level of the sink comprehensives. That would teach the toffs.