STTT take for ever? I’ve probably done in excess of 250 in the last 15 months, 10 to 12 minutes tops        (if -ve). The 5 minute wait for the results is the only constraining factor. I’ve had may be half a dozen  turn positive at 4.5 minutes. If the patient has a roaring Strep A tonsillitis a positive  result normally appears in 90 seconds. In these cases the full consultation is done in under 10 minutes, hardly “for ever”.

You point out some IPs  you work with  “are not up to the job”, could you elaborate on that statement please, I’d be interested to hear the reasoning for this remark. Yes I am an IP, I did the course just over 2 years ago at the grand old age of 59 in Cardiff University. I found the course difficult at my age, but utterly rewarding, I wish this change had happened years ago! The course in Cardiff is particularly challenging, however IPs qualifying from there would certainly be competent enough to cover most if not all of the ailments treatable on the NHS with a little “homework” on these conditions to further their scopes of practice.