Bill Harvey: The wizard

A few weeks ago, I heard from a colleague a story that I found hard to believe at the time. I was told that one GP, not far from where I work, was ‘prescribing money’ to help some visually impaired patients to afford better lighting. This had arisen because the usual support services were so oversubscribed and underfunded that waiting times were becoming unwieldy. I now know that the story may actually be true, having read news reports today of how some GPs were planning to ‘prescribe heating’ to help their more vulnerable patients to survive the challenges of winter.