GPs have been put in an untenable position, expected to provide both unlimited remote advice and face-to-face appointments, writes Dr Charlotte Bryson. Plus letters from a frustrated patient and a trainee nurse
Being a GP or running a GP practice is becoming an almost impossible task (Staff at UK GP surgeries facing abuse and ‘tsunami of demand’, 28 May). Following a controversial letter from NHS England to general practices recently, the situation feels ever more untenable.
At one and the same time, expectations are being raised of GPs being able to provide unlimited remote advice and to provide traditional face-to-face appointments, if this is the patient’s preference. Behind the scenes, there is the same understaffed workforce and the same number of minutes in each, often 12-hour, day.
