Patients and GPs share stress and frustration as doctors left taking the strain

The patients:

A campaigner who is petitioning for another GP surgery to be built in the town where he lives says patients are becoming increasingly frustrated with access issues.

Patrick McCarthy, a long-standing patient of Wellington Medical Practice, says he has often struggled to get through to the GP surgery on the phone, and knows of patients with similar experiences.

"It's so frustrating," said Patrick, who also lives in Wellington. We are not there to fit into their system. I've seen it where receptionists might also suggest that the doctor doesn't need to be disturbed and to just go to a pharmacy. They shouldn't be in the position to make these judgements."

He was also unhappy with being given a telephone appointment in recent weeks, rather than seeing a GP face-to-face.

"I'm not happy with that because the doctor is making an assessment without seeing me," he said. "I'm describing what the problem is but I'm not a medical professional."

Patrick is also the co-ordinator for Telford & Wrekin Green Party, which has organised a petition calling for a review of existing services at Wellington Medical Practice, as well as a new GP practice for the town.

It has gathered more than 700 signatures so far and will eventually be delivered to Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS England and Wellington Town Council.

He claims one of the issues is that local medical services are struggling to cope with demand.

"We need another GP practice for the needs of people who already exist here and it's an increasing population," Patrick said. "It would also be good if Wellington Medical Practice held a public meeting so they can have some open dialogue with the community."

He has agreed to pause the campaign for the next fortnight after being told health commissioners would be discussing the concerns with the GP practice.

And he has called on the Government to ensure that more students are being encouraged into the medical profession to address any shortages.

A spokesman for Wellington Medical Practice said staff had continued to work hard throughout the pandemic to deliver the best possible care, adding: “Covid-19 has not gone away and, in Telford & Wrekin, Covid is higher than both regional and national averages. To keep everyone safe appointments have to be assessed over the telephone first.

"This helps give patients the type of appointment they need, whether it is in person, on the phone or a video consultation. However, if you have a clinical need to be seen face to face you will be.

“We have and continue to expand our call handling team to better assist patients who call the practice.

"Since the pandemic started the number of calls we deal with has increased significantly. Our reception team are trained to manage this volume of calls but are under increasing pressure and spend time discussing issues with patients individually whilst also liaising with the on-call clinician for advice."

The GP practice said it had also been involved in the Covid vaccination programme, vaccinating more than 7,000 patients to date.

Telford MP Lucy Allan says she has been contacted by patients elsewhere in the borough who have experienced issues and has had a number of meetings with Government ministers and health commissioners.

Concerns surrounding access to GP services, which varies across areas, was raised at a recent Telford & Wrekin health and wellbeing board meeting.

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CCG recognised the challenges and committed to improving the patient experience.

Councillor Kelly Middleton, chair of the board, which is a partnership between Telford & Wrekin Council, the NHS and voluntary groups, said: "It's been difficult to hear the stories of people being unable to get in contact with their GP surgery and then ending up severely ill.

"I am glad of the commitments we have received from the NHS – we will be monitoring the progress the NHS has made and look forward to receiving a report on improvements made in six months."

Residents can raise any issues about GP access through the local NHS’s Complaints, Patient Advice and Liaison Service.

The doctors:

An historic long-term lack of investment into general practice is seriously impacting both patients and GPs, a Shropshire doctor said today.

Dr Mary McCarthy, who is West Midlands regional council deputy chair for the British Medical Association – a trade union for doctors, says workload pressures have increased due to the pandemic.

She called the results of the Shropshire Star's survey "incredibly concerning", but reassured patients that doctors share their concerns and urged them to support a campaign backing GPs as they call on the Government to provide more resources.

“The results of this survey are incredibly concerning and reflect the fact that GP practices went into this pandemic understaffed and under-resourced," she said.

"Previous Government commitments to deliver more GPs continue to be unmet and as workload pressures have increased due to the pandemic and the growing backlog of care, the historic long-term lack of investment into general practice is now seriously impacting both patients and GPs.

“It is important that the public know that GPs stand side by side with them.

"We are just as frustrated as patients and share the same concerns.

"No GP will ever intentionally lapse in the level of care they provide to their patients but without adequate staffing levels and resources, hardworking GPs and practice staff are becoming more and more limited by factors beyond their control.

"The blame must be placed at the feet of the Government as it is within their means to change things.

“We would, therefore, urge the public to sign up to the BMA’s ‘Support Your Surgery’ campaign.

"GPs need the backing of as many members of the public as possible at a time when the association calls on the Government to save general practice.

"We need to ensure that GPs have the support and tools needed to give their patients the good quality care they want to provide – the care that patients expect and deserve.”

In June, local health bosses revealed that some doctors' surgeries were seeing an increase in incidents of verbal abuse directed at staff.

In the month afterwards, Healthwatch Shropshire, which asked patients in the county for feedback on remote appointments, raised a number of concerns about how the move had affected elderly patients, as well as those with autism, anxiety and hearing problems.

The group, which made a series of recommendations to health and social care services, says it intends to revisit the topic in the future to try and understand if things have changed.

A recent report by Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group noted a "considerable variation" in access to GP services in the county with some patients facing "excessive waits" to book appointments or discuss issues.

It said the number of telephone consultations had tripled since 2019.

The CCG has outlined ways it is working with GP surgeries to make improvements.

Actions have included additional technical support to improve phone systems, mystery shopper approaches to test out processes and "triangulating data" from various sources to offer targeted support to practices where patients are experiencing greater access difficulties.