We've all done it. Sat at home waiting for a delivery, the gasman or whatever. And as I do it today, I have been thinking about being a consumer.
The iPod generation has been brought up demanding instant gratification and while not tolerate an NHS that does not deliver says Bernard Ribeiro, president of the Royal College of Surgeons in his foreword 'Quite Like Heaven? - Options for the NHS in a consumer age', a report from the think tank Civitas. He argues that younger adults lack the post-war generation's patience and experience of hardship which helped shape the NHS.
What struck me about his ideas is that although the demands placed on healthcare are driven by consumer expectations, they are not applied consistently.
Take everyone's favourite topic, extended hours. The drivers of this apparent demand for longer surgery hours are commuters and those who say ‘they can't take time off work to see the doctor'. Yet there are plenty of other ‘services' that only happen during the day. For example, it can be nigh on impossible to have a fridge or a sofa delivered outside normal working hours. And getting a timed appointment for something like having a gas boiler serviced - no it's always sometime between 8am and 2pm, assuming someone turns up at all.
So how do the ‘I can't take time off work...' types manage these trials - they can't all have stay-at-home spouses.
Of course some companies will offer a weekend or named day delivery - for a charge. A charge that many are only too happy to pay in exchange for convenience. For that matter large supermarkets vary the cost of their home delivery services depending on the demand for slots - so it can be more expensive in the evening or at weekends.
And quite frankly I'd pay not to be stuck in waiting for a 'some time between 8am and 2pm appointment' today.
Which inevitably leads to the question: if the government wants primary care to be more like a consumer-focused business, why not allow GPs to charge for pre-booked evening and weekend appointments?