GP sheltering since covid running London marathon

[justasking111]

OH raging that our GP working from home since March last year is running the London marathon today is he being unreasonable. He's spitting feathers here. This is the senior partner owner of the building practice

Our surgery appears to be doing nothing north of the neck. Eyes:Specsavers. Ears:Specsavers. Teeth/mouth:dentist. I wonder what they are doing. Ours isn't even doing 'flu jabs or Covid boosters.

Bottom line is that there is no excuse for GPs not to resume normal practice. If they are CEV they should be vaccinated. So agree that if is not attending the practice but is able to go and participate in a mass event it is entirely unreasonable. Remote appointments increase the risk of misdiagnosis so should have only been used pre vaccine. Now it is completely unacceptable, any practice that persists should not be given any NHS money. The NHS is bad enough for non critical care - it is a disgrace we have to pay for a non existent service. Why the govt is not doing more is beyond me.

It is pathetic that it is simply impossible to call let alone get an appointment. The only people who can use the NHS these days are the unemployed who have hours to sit on hold.

Your OH is overinvested in the private life of his GP.

YANBU - GP's haven't exactly been lockdown heros.

People are angry about the reduction of already derisory service to something that is now dangerous. The OP’s OH is entirely right to be angry. We should all be angry because otherwise more and more of us will die from preventable/curable illnesses.

Has it occurred to you that the reason for shielding may have ended?

My friend has been shielding when she was living with and caring for an extremely clinically vulnerable relative who was recuperating post-operatively. Relative now back on feet, friend has moved out, reason for shielding no more.

Collegue was shielding as was having chemotherapy. Course has finished as has her post-chemo 8 month recover period.

Lots of other examples I'm sure if you put your mind to it.

I can't believe your husband is so stupid as to not contemplate that situations change as do risk factors - especially for x2 or x 3 dosed vaccinated.

We should all be angry because otherwise more and more of us will die from preventable/curable illnesses.

More people are going to die if the DR has to take twice as long getting through appointments waiting for people to come and go, have a natter, cough all over them and give them covid.

They should do face to face appointments where needed.

OP, top marks for finding a new angle on how to start a GP bashing thread. Does this bring some joy into your life?

Everyone running had to show a negative test result on Friday when collecting their running number and again today when arriving at the start

We have been supporting 6 people today and all of them were checked

Not to mention that even if by some small chance you were positive, the viral load you would have to still be well enough to run TWENTY SIX MILES would be so small that there is nil chance of you being contagious outside

Your OH needs to get a grip

Your OH needs to get a grip agreed. Is he monitoring everyone's out of work activities or just the GP

Some people are doing the 'London Marathon' in their own location. It's like a virtual way to run the marathon here But you would still report to people that you are running and fundraising for, the London marathon.

Is the GP back working in the practice now?

I wonder if GPS are up there (or down there) with Lawyers, Traffic Wardens, Baliffs, Car Clampers and those useless Policemen/women with speed cameras on the downward slope of a hill

YABU. GPs are allowed to work from home and also leave their homes to live their lives outside of work!

I find the telephone appt first approach is so much better. I don't want to sit in waiting rooms with people that many all sorts of infectious illnesses unnecessarily when most of the time the GP doesn't need to see you in person to order a blood test or some other referral. I'm happy if my GP wants to WFH most of the time.

IMO, Your DP IBU about a GP about whose health and family members' health status(es) he presumably knows nothing. The GP might have health reasons for wfh but regard outdoor running as being safe.

I'm not surprised as I see what looks like a coordinated programme of disinformation attacking GP practices in England. What is the relevance that the GP is senior partner/owns the building or practice?

Regarding the point about nurses doing 'flu vaccs, in our practice, many but not all GPs and nurses all have administered 'flu vaccines (and COVID previously in the PCN). Partners join in probably to show willing on the weekend days.

Jesus Christ. Have you nothing else to discuss with your OH?

I would be a bit miffed about this as well I think some GPs have seized on Covid as a way to reshape practice long term - for their benefit. But not all ...

FWIW given the previous posts by PPs about GPs not offering F2F or doing COVID boosters, we've never has a single day in 2020 or 2021 when we haven't seen patients F2F. I know not every practice has the same circumstances. The environment of primary care in England is difficult. I think there is an orchestrated campaign to attack GPs for political purposes. We've seen whole practices return contracts and close which is something I've never seen before. We saw the single handed practices close on retirement but have not seen the wholesale voluntary closure then have individual GPs change career entirely, emigrate or locum.

PErhaps your DP might like to retrain, OP.

Does he have an interest in the hobbies of other professions?

"It is pathetic that it is simply impossible to call let alone get an appointment. The only people who can use the NHS these days are the unemployed who have hours to sit on hold." This is the type of disinformation I have in mind. Charitably, that might be someone's view of their own surgery but stretched to the whole of the GP estate in the NHS. FWIW, we have never had a day when we've not seen patients F2F. For the different surgeries at which I and my DC are patients, I've been seen F2F in a timely manner when appropriate and with telephones answered in a couple of minutes after having to listen to the COVID messages. I see the call statistics at my practice so see how long people have to wait. I know this is not the same at all GP practices

Well good for you Zilla1. Thats not the experience for most. As I say, I know friends within the NHS who're treating patients who're now terminal because they couldn't get FTF appointments and were misdiagosed.

My own DH was lucky that he works for a company that provides private health insurance because his GP was still telling him it was probably nothing to worry up to the point that the tumours removed from hs kidney were diagnosed as cancer.

The experience for most patients has been poor, and the outcomes for some will be devestating and its not okay.

@TheWeeDonkey

Well good for you Zilla1. Thats not the experience for most. As I say, I know friends within the NHS who're treating patients who're now terminal because they couldn't get FTF appointments and were misdiagosed.

My own DH was lucky that he works for a company that provides private health insurance because his GP was still telling him it was probably nothing to worry up to the point that the tumours removed from hs kidney were diagnosed as cancer.

The experience for most patients has been poor, and the outcomes for some will be devestating and its not okay.

You don't know what the experience for "most" patients has been, this simply hasn't been measured. So you're flat out making this up.

In terms of what other HCPs think, they have no context for knowing what proportion of patients were or were not seen F2F without knowing how many patients each individual practice saw.

Our NHS practice has had a 50pc increase in demand since the start of the year compared to baseline 2 years ago. We've increased capacity more then 30pc despite having fewer staff and no increase in funding. But there is still that increased demand that we can't possibly meet and therefore there are more people that won't be seen F2F (or remotely) and yes some of these will have pathology they could have been treated earlier. This doesn't mean that we're not working hard.

TBH we're not far away from reducing our service back to baseline if the abuse doesn't stop soon - then patients will really get the service that they're paying for (and £150/year doesn't stretch that far in healthcare terms).

No it’s not ok but complain to the right people. Primary care is drowning and instead of help and support from government level we’re being told it’s because we’re lazy.
I know all GP surgeries to us locally and are all doing f2f as needed , our surgery you have a choice when you book. The problem is that demand massively exceeds capacity despite increasing staffing ( we cannot employ a GP as nil available so we have 2 new ANPs) our capacity still means that all appointments have gone by 845 . We have urgent slots reserved but again these go quickly. We see above the recommended ‘safe’ level of patients and provide above the recommended percentage of appointments to list size
But all of this is of no use to the patients who ring at 9 am and then abuse our reception team .

We have the lowest level of GP to patient numbers in Europe and hence there is no way we can provide the same service

I would love to be able to my job properly, I would love to be able to properly support my palliative care patients I would love that patients are seen quickly but I cannot physically give anymore to the NHS and nor can any of our colleagues

The service is under huge pressure and I think most GP’s would agree. A practice close to me handed back their contract 2 weeks ago , no one wants to take this over , this leaves 3000 patients with no service

Outside of 2ww our waiting times for secondary care are 6-12 months depending on specialty.

None of this is good enough , if the nhs is going to survive it needs to be overhauled and properly funded .

none of this is good enough, if the NHS is going to survive it needs to be overhauled and properly funded

A conversation I was a part of along side clinical and medical staff back in 2008. The general consensus was that it'd be fine and was someone else's problem.

Which was more or less the answer to everything.

Our waiting times due to removal of services from two thirds of the hospitals in our health board are now up to three years (that's neurology) and that's just my conditions; others may be more.

@FelicityBennett we have a home in France and I can put my hand on my heart and say health services in France are head and shoulders above those in the UK. They are responsive, respectful and generally more honest.

If you assert that GPS would prefer to work within a Continental Heslth System rather than the UK's outdated and inadequate NHS may I respectfully suggest that GPS and the BMA start lobbying government to effect the change.