GP vents fury at ‘insulting’ letter
AGP who contracted coronavirus has slammed NHS England after doctors were told to see patients in person or face enforcement action.
Dr Siobhan Brennan, 50, has worked as a general practitioner for fourteen years, and currently works at a medical practice in Marple.
The mum-of-two had to fundraise for her own PPE at the start of the pandemic, due to a lack of available protection for doctors.
She contracted Covid-19 in March, and six weeksago she broke her ankle in a serious running accident.
Despite the challenges she’s faced over the last few months, Siobhan says she and her colleagues have worked harder than ever before. When she saw a story in the BBC this week, stating that GPs were being reminded to see patients face-to-face, she was horrified and insulted.
NHS England is writing to all practices to ensure they are communicating that patients can be seen in person, the BBC reports.
It is estimated half of the 102 million appointments from March to July were carried out via video or phone call, NHS Digital said. NHS England said it would be reminding GPs they faced enforcement action if they failed to offer face-to-face appointments when necessary. Failure to do so was a breach of their contract, it said.
“The letter implies that we have not been providing these kind of appointments through the pandemic,” Siobhan said, speaking to the Express. NHS England said at the start there should be no face-to-face consultations so it seems to be a huge sense of irony.
“The message on the ground appears to be that GP practices are closed or avoiding seeing patients.
“We have been using different models to see people but have in fact been seeing people in person throughout.”
Siobhan contracted coronavirus in March. She believes she caught the virus due to a lack of PPE provision at the start of the pandemic. She had to take two days off work because she was too breathless to speak to patients, but the rest of the time she was working from home. The mum also set up her own crowdfunding page to get PPE, and helped make visors and goody bags for over 1,000 NHS staff.
“A person like me shouldn’t have had to do that - it should have been provided,” Siobhan said.
“To see that letter published on the Internet has just further deepened my sense of frustration. GPs have never worked harder.
“The implication that we are not seeing patients when we are working harder than ever with less funding and less resources is not fair.”
Siobhan broke her ankle during a running accident six weeks ago, but continued to see patients face-toface with a boot on her foot.
She says the letter issued by NHS England has caused deep upset among her colleagues, and fears it could cause some GPs to leave.
“I feel I have worked above and beyond what is expected of me, and this has just made me feel angry and let down,” Siobhan said. “We have all been back in the practice fulltime for a number of weeks. The only people not in are those having to self-isolate.
“We offer video, email and phone appointments but we offer a face-to-face appointment to anyone who needs one, in a safe manner.
“This has made me think about retiring much sooner than I had planned - it is just proving to be a more difficult job with less support. “It’s just very insulting.” An NHS England spokesperson said: “Most practices have made huge efforts to remain accessible through the pandemic, patients at some practices have reported difficulties.
“So as well the ease of video and phone consultations, as the Royal College of General Practitioners have stated it’s important that face to face appointments continue to be offered.”