Tough times for solo docs across the pond

In 2008, one out of ten solo general practices in Great Britain closed for business according to a report in Pulse.  It probably didn’t help that British Health Secretary Alan Johnson has attacked solo practices, saying that some  “don’t even reach 1948 standards” as laid out by the National Health Service.  Given the problems with the NHS, maybe Johnson meant that as a compliment.  I doubt it.

I hope the remaining solo general practitioners in Albion remember the words of a fellow countryman of far greater stature than Mr. Johnson:

Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.