Letters - Thursday November 26, 2020

General practices are over-stretched, and we would like to raise awareness of the pressure GPs are under. Practices are all trying their very best to cope with these unprecedented circumstances and have been working incredibly hard to keep up with demand.

GP Practices remain open, as they always have been, but this may not always be obvious to the public.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, GP practices have had to change their way of working by offering telephone or video assessment as the first point of contact to keep everyone safe.

Where, following this assessment, the GP feels that a face to face appointment is necessary, this will be arranged.

Some patients are under the impression that practices have ‘closed their doors’ and are not seeing anyone in person. We have conducted our own survey to find out what is actually happening. We have found that all practices are open for face to face appointments when clinically appropriate. They are all experiencing high volumes of patient activity, but they are having to do this with fewer staff. Unfortunately, we have also found that patients are getting frustrated with their situation and there has been a rise in the complaints and aggression shown to GP staff.

It is possible that patient expectations may be consistent with pre -Covid times and patients may not be readily adapting to the triage system. Some of the national press coverage has been inaccurate and this may be influencing their opinion. Where virtual consultations are taking place, they are far more time-consuming than face to face consultations and, as a result, GP practices are struggling to keep up with this demand.

The overriding concern of practices is to keep patients safe, and to protect staff so that they remain available to provide health care. Face to face consultations now require an extensive clean down after each patient, therefore, reducing the number of patients that can be seen by each clinician.

Our survey suggests an increase in waiting times due to the rising volume of work and complexity without the resources to deal with this.

There are also less staff in practices due to self-isolation and sickness.

Unfortunately, some of these factors have contributed to a reported 38 per cent increase in patient complaints to GP practices, both formally and informally, but also, disappointingly, aggressively on the phone, through social media and in public.

The impact of this negative feedback, coupled with high workloads, has resulted in an exhausted workforce, which is also contributing to staff mental health issues. So, we make a plea to patients to try to understand the situation that practices are in. Just be aware that practices are doing their very best to cope and provide the best service to their patients that they can in the circumstances. Please do not hesitate to contact your GP practice if you are unwell. We hope this provides you with an insight into some of the issues Primary Care are facing and to clarify that our GPs are still very much working in the new ‘normal’.

Lancashire and Cumbria Consortium of Local

Medical Committees

Virus

Simple fact about Christmas time

In the controversy surrounding Christmas, maybe people should think about the longer term.

Surely it’s better to miss this Christmas than never see another one.

Simple fact.

David Pickering.

via email

Appeal

Helping hand for diabetes sufferers

Many people have already started Christmas shopping – and there’s a way we can all combine enjoying the festivities while supporting people with diabetes.

This year we’ve seen demand for our services reach record levels due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while our own funding has been significantly impacted. More so than ever, people with diabetes need us, but we need your support to be able to continue fighting their corner.

That’s why we are working to support people – and you can be a part of this vital effort by simply browsing our Christmas shop from the comfort of your home and choosing from a wonderful range of Christmas cards and gifts.

The shop can be found at www.diabetes.org.uk/shop.

As well as a great range of cards, there are presents and stocking fillers for all your family and friends. It’s a great way to help a good cause and make the most of the festive season.

Clare Howarth

Head of the North of England at Diabetes UK

Politics

No sign of ‘levelling up’ in Fleetwood

The Prime-Minister and his government constantly tell us how committed they are to “levelling up”.

Given the current circumstances they can be forgiven, for the time being, for not having delivered any tangible evidence of this commitment.

The PM also urges us to take more exercise, cycle, swim, run etc etc. Only this morning, on the radio, a Conservative MP was demanding that local sports facilities, specifically swimming pools, should be re-opened as soon as possible.

What a great pity it is then that this message does not appear to have filtered through to the Conservative Cabinet at Wyre Borough Council. There is no “levelling up” in this borough; Fleetwood continues to be treated as a second class entity within the borough.

It seems that funds can be found to re-open Poulton and Garstang swimming pools but Fleetwood’s larger and better pool is left to go to rack and ruin. It is hard to escape the conclusion that the cabinet members - three representing Poulton wards, one representing a Carleton ward, one representing a Cleveleys ward and another representing Hambleton & Stalmine - care more about ensuring that their cronies get re-elected than acting with impartiality for the benefit of the whole borough.

The sad fact is that Fleetwood, the largest single town in the borough, is treated very shabbily by the Conservative representatives of the smaller towns and settlements. Our sin is that we do not tend to vote Conservative and, frankly, they do not need Fleetwood’s votes anyway. Our town has suffered many trials and tribulations during my lifetime (I’m 61) but surely the greatest misfortune was the Local Government Act 1972, which resulted in the formation of Wyre Borough Council on 1st April 1974.

Mike Harding

via email