By the way ... GPs need lunch or patients may suffer

A FEW years ago, I wrote about research that showed judges make harsher rulings towards the end of a long session or approaching lunchtime — hours since their last meal.

Back then, I reflected that GPs may be in a similar position, their mental functions affected when they spend hours working through a long list of consultations, invariably multi-tasking and faced with numerous complex decisions.

So I am not surprised to hear that the British Medical Association is calling for a reduction in the numbers of patients a GP sees daily, as the quality of doctors’ decision-making is worse towards the end of a long day.

Some medics have even suggested that patients who want the best from their GP should book appointments near the start of the session, ie, in the morning, and this seems a sensible idea if you can manage it.

The problem is that doctors have to juggle many balls. They may see 20 or 40 patients each day, every one with a unique set of problems.

And in the background the GP is mentally carrying a number of unresolved matters from earlier patients.

There are repeat prescriptions to be considered and signed, telephone inquiries requiring attention, emails to be read and dealt with — all the numerous pressures of being in a professional service industry.

At the start of my career it was not unusual to stop for lunch, often at a lecture or seminar at the local hospital. That was a moment of comparative rest, a pause for reflection, an opportunity to address any crisis that may have arisen during the morning.

Such a break is no longer possible. Most of us are lucky to hastily drink a coffee and eat a biscuit at the desk as we wade through messages, post and emails — in contravention of Care Quality Commission strictures forbidding us from eating in our consulting rooms.

The escalation in our workload eclipses all respect for eating sensibly, having a moment to relax or exercise in the middle of the day.

And, worse, it seems that it may imperil some patients if faulty decisions are made by these human beings called GPs.