I had 2 appointments cancelled, just called to rebook and was told I could not be seen without a mask.
Asked the usual question about why: if the other people are wearing masks and have been vaxxed - are they not protected? Got an idiot health safety protocol spiel. This has to end.
Thanks for taking the time to explain that. I appreciate it. Just to clarify, if you don't mind. In your second to last paragraph, did you mean that a doctor who sees patients privately, might also work for the NHS?
What about specialty doctors, like eye or allergy or cardiology? Does the NHS have plenty of them to go around as well? And is dentistry part of the NHS? I've heard chiropodists referred to in some of my programmes, lol. :D Is that akin to a podiatrist? (Foot doctor but necessarily an MD)
Yes, medical professionals work for themselves mostly as independent contractors - I think. Not one myself so don't know. They contract to the NHS but also sell their individual services. Anecdotal stories are full of people who were on a 6-month waiting list to see Doctor Smith, but then decided to pay to see a doctor and the following week got seen non-NHS by... Doctor Smith.
About 30 years ago the UK government managed to force dentistry into a sort of limbo where patients could still get NHS treatment but had to pay part of the cost. Still like that.
Physio therapists and chiropodists increasingly live in a similar limbo where they are sort-of available via NHS but many people pay for the service outside of NHS. It's because physio and chiropody are relatively cheap.
Hmm. I see. Thanks!