Are our GPs being worked too hard?

OUR daughter, a GP all her working life and a partner in a challenging inner-city practice, has become very disillusioned with the unrealistic demands made on her. A typical morning surgery consists of a first appointment at 7.15am, 94 telephone consultations after surgery finishes, home visits, ‘lunch’ from 4.10 to 4.20pm, a full evening surgery, then emails and paperwork. She gets home at 8.30pm. She also attends practice meetings and training sessions. She is totally demoralised and says becoming a GP was the biggest mistake of her life. It beggars belief the Government wants to force seven-day surgeries on GPs. Please don’t complain to your GP when there are no appointments, it simply isn’t their fault.

Names and address supplied.

Talk of the NHS losing millions because people miss GP appointments is rubbish. My GP’s surgery is normally packed with people waiting for their appointed time. Invariably, people wait 15 to 20 minutes past that time. If a patient doesn’t turn up, the doctor immediately sees the next patient and there are always people who turn up on the off-chance the doctor can see them. Fining people for missing an appointments would be impossible to implement.

FREDERICK LEES, Walsall, West Mids.

NOW retired, I worked as a GP for 40 years, and yet again we are hearing about the appalling waiting times for GP appointments. Throwing more money at any aspect of the NHS has minimal impact and training more GPs is obviously more of a long-term strategy. In my later years I was often asked to go on this or that committee: they were a waste of time and rarely made decisions which affected patient care. Some are necessary and productive but many are not. Getting rid of some would free-up thousands of GPs to spend more time doing surgeries.

Dr R. N. SNOOK, West Kirby, Wirral.