How was work yesterday?
My colleagues and I did something we had not done before. We had a huddle-huggle! It had been another relentless day. One word came to mind – acopia described as offensive and lazy, implying fault on the part of the patient and allowing the assessing doctor to erroneously label the patient as a ‘social admission’ when, in fact, such patients are likely to be frail with co-morbidities and have an acute (potentially reversible) illness. Well, that was written in 2013. Eleven years later, Brexit, Covid-19 and frequent change of guards at #10 has made UK the second unhappiest country in the world. Coupled with Click and Collect, Amazon Prime Delivery, many of these patients are increasingly unwilling to wait for time to heal their wounds and demand to see their GP. They are not frail with co-morbidities
I find this demand flattering. Our patients value us and do not want to be navigated to other services. Time was 5:45pm and we explored how we can make a Practice omelette without breaking more eggs. Staff are feeling the strain more and more. My colleagues are operational. They work like magic and get things done. While they talked about how we can create more appointments to tackle the access dilemma, I kept wondering what we can do at the base of the pyramid – to reduce demand. No easy answers. I had previously written that the right to health is a fundamental human right and should not be abused – not by patients, not by NHS staff and surely not by policy makers in high places.
I got home and later in the night, found myself sitting back to watch a TV programme for the first time in ages. Channel 5. Inside The Force: 24/7 “Based inside Middlesbrough Police station, the biggest and busiest in Cleveland, this series goes behind the station doors from where everything is run. It’s home to over 500 police officers who look after a town with the highest crime rates in the country.”
These officers really put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis while facing the same limitation of resources in an environment riddled with drugs and abject poverty. The next programme was Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS – the challenging work of brave crew taking measured risks to protect and save lives.
I reflected on my hard day at work and wondered if I would trade places with the Police Officers or the Coastguards. What about you? This video says it with sight and sound. Be thankful for what you have.
Abiye Hector-Goma is a GP based in Leeds, UK
