GP Stories - Are GPs doing face to face....

Being a GP at the moment is not a popular profession. The perceived impression with the public is that we aren't doing any work and that we're just hiding in our surgeries. Media bashing and Daily Mail articles such as this are fueling the hatred toward the profession at the moment. The government don't help - their new 'support package' aims to force face-to-face consults and demonise the bottom 20% of practices that don't see patients face to face. GP leaders have told practices to boycott this package and not give NHS England the information to vilify them. I imagine this won't be the last we hear about this package as several urgent BMA meetings are taking place regarding it's implementation.

Knowing all that, it provides a little background to the following exchange. Whilst walking with my family in the local park, we came across a friendly elderly couple. We exchanged pleasantries and the man told me local places to visit as he was a local of several decades. He seemed very jovial, and we were there for several minutes.

"What do you do?" he asked me.

"I'm a doctor" - I have recently preferred to go vague with this answer, more so recently due to the GP backlash. I tried to change the subject. 

"What speciality are you?" he enquired further.

"I'm a GP"

His demeanour and tone changed.

"Oh.... so.... when are you going to see patients?" he said in a accusatory tone. 

Now when I was in GP training, one of the topics that came up was, was it good to live where you work? Some doctors would absolutely hate to live where they work for the fear of bumping into any of their patients. My trainer said they had lived and worked in the same area for two decades and other than an incident in a supermarket, had no issues. Back in the day, GPs actually lived in their surgery and they probably went down to the pub with the locals and were an integral part of the community. I had followed in their footsteps so now I also live in my practice catchment area. This was my first run-in with a patient.

Now possible (inflammatory) answers I had to his question were:

"I can't see patients because I'm usually on the driving range in the afternoon"

"I can't see patients because I'm counting my money"

"I don't see patients because I don't want to"

But I figured this might not go down so well. So I just kept it short and truthful.

"We have been seeing patients through this pandemic, we see the ones that need to be seen."

And I left it at that. He didn't look satisfied with my answer but he didn't pursue it. What was once a pleasant interaction had turned into a tense standoff. Our families went our different ways.

I could have spent more time explaining it to him properly but it gets very tiring trying to defend your profession all the time. Maybe more education about it on TV and social media may help explain to patients that if we're not calling you or seeing you, we're busy checking blood results, sorting out paperwork, dictating letters or sorting out your meds. Also to explain the fact that GP numbers are declining but patient numbers and complexity is increasing.

But I think it's easier to just move house.

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