Ail in it together
GOING to the market with my Mum in the 1970s was always heartwarming.
She was the longest serving ward sister at the local hospital and, living in a small town, we were guaranteed to bump into someone she had nursed.
And they usually wanted a quick consultation.
“Ooh, Sister Bletchly, I’m glad I’ve seen you. I’m plagued by the lumbago again.”
“Now then nurse, I can’t shake this cough, do I need a hex-a-r-ray?” Nothing was off limits.
Nits, piles, constipation, gout. And did sister think grandad need his hydrocele drained again?
Once a bloke came up to us at the greengrocer’s stall to enquire about a nasty rash and Mum only just managed to stop him dropping his trousers and flashing his meat and two veg. But my big-hearted mum took it all in her stride and relished her community duties. I chuckled when I discovered that, half a century on, TV doctor Amir Khan also gets flashed at in public.
Viewers will know the warm, gentle medic from Channel 5 series GP’S Behind Closed Doors and his slots on Lorraine.
But now he’s written a funny and deeply moving memoir about life as a community GP in n Bradford
“I’ve had sore boobs thrust in my face in the supermarket, upermarket, and the odd bum m cheek as well,” he says.
“As a GP you are public property. But I accept cept I’m part of a community and nd overall that feels really good.” ”
That’s how my mum felt too, even when n our shopping trips turned urned into an outdoor surgery. She was touched by the trust of patients and I was proud of how they respected her.
But, now Covid-19 has changed the way patients interact with their GPS and practice nurses. Virtual consultations have replaced human contact in the vast majority of appointments – for now.
But a study by the Health Foundation charity reveals 3,600 GPS in England are themselves at high risk from Covid, because of age, s sex or ethnicity.
Many run sol solo practices in the most deprived areas of the country – and if they fall ill or die their 710,000 patients hav have no one to turn to for advice.
So funding must be put in place for GPS to pay locum staff and protect themselve themselves. Because trusted doctors – and nurses – are the bea beating heart of our
co communities.