It’s frustrating...every day is just relentless
THE “relentless” pressure on general practice means days are getting longer and longer, Dr Krishna Kasaraneni said.
The Sheffield GP has noticed an increase in patients seeking help in recent months, leaving him with less time to spend with each one.
He said: “You expect to have a busy day in general practice every now and then. Now, every single day is like that.
“We used to take pride in offering 15-minute appointments to patients so that you get the time to go through things properly, but now we have to squeeze more and more in.
“It’s really frustrating because as GPs you deal with people who have multiple issues, some are medical while others are social, and it’s becoming difficult to do that in the current climate.”
Dr Kasaraneni has worked in the NHS since 2005 and as a GP since 2014.
He said the workload before the pandemic “wasn’t perfect by any means” but changes due to Covid – such as the shift to more digital appointments – have definitely made the situation worse.
He said: “People assume a telephone consultation is a lot simpler and quicker.
“On the contrary, seeing somebody face-to-face for certain issues is much more valuable and a lot quicker than trying to do it remotely.”
Dr Kasaraneni urged ministers and health chiefs to be honest about the scale of the problem and support GPs through the coming months and next winter.
He said: “I think the expectations from the Government and NHS England of trying to do everything we were doing before, as well as delivering the Covid vaccination programme and dealing with the backlog of care, is unrealistic.
“We need to be honest with patients and say that general practice is under extreme pressure and it is going to take months, if not years, to rebuild from Covid.”