Working as a part-time GP is intense and draining. No wonder morale is so low

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/12/gp-doctor-part-time-low-morale

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It is 11am and all the appointments of the day are gone. The phones ring, the waiting room gets busier, the queues longer and the patients more impatient. Our receptionists, who are the real stalwarts of general practice, soldier on, multitasking their way through what is, after all, only an average day.

Like many practices, we operate daily telephone triage in addition to routine and urgent surgery appointments. With increasing patient need over recent years, it really is not possible to offer everyone a same-day appointment. Many patients do not need or even want a GP appointment, and can be managed in other health settings, such as by a pharmacist, physiotherapist or an optician. But the reality is that many patients are referred back to their GPs, often for managerial tasks. This can be due to NHS restrictions placed on other healthcare organisations, so that they cannot refer directly to hospital or treat patients.

Related: Life of a GP: 'We are crumbling under the pressures of workload'

Jean is a 77-year-old woman with glaucoma, under the care of an ophthalmologist and on eye drops. She is eligible to drive and has just renewed her licence. I receive a letter from her optician detailing that her visual fields are reduced and she does not meet the criteria for driving. Jean is unaware of this and understandably upset, having insured her car as well. It takes some time – and several phone calls to the optician and ophthalmologist – but in the end she agrees to inform the DVLA.

The reality is that I spend half my time not on direct clinical contact, but doing paperwork or on the phone to outside agencies. I do not think I am an outlier: many of my colleagues stay on to clear their desks hours after the last patient has left the building. I worked as a full-time GP when I first qualified eight years ago. It was busy but manageable, but general practice has changed almost beyond recognition. I now work part-time; the days are intense and draining and it is impossible for me to do more. I love my job and feel that I make a difference, however small, to people’s lives. But it is neither safe nor healthy to work at the same pace day after day, chasing time. Patients’ needs are changing: we are seeing more depression, social phobias, stress, anxiety, and above all deprivation, and none of these have miracle cures. It is inevitable that as a GP, we absorb some of these emotions, but it is the frustration of not being able to make effective change that can wear you down. General practice is not an exact science and there is more risk and uncertainty compared to some other specialities.

I know there are many GPs out there like me – and not just women – who feel the same. Many deaneries (postgraduate medical training organisations) have had to go into second or third rounds of trainee recruitment, because no one wants to be a GP any more. This is hardly surprising: hospital trainees see us as overworked and frustrated. GP morale is the lowest of any speciality.

We have emerged on the other side of an election that focused on the economy and the NHS. At a time when general practice is in monumental crisis, the Conservative government needs to make real its pledges of more funding and resources.

However, it’s not just about producing more GPs. What you do with them counts, too. We need more time managing our complex elderly and chronic disease patients, rather than operating conveyor belts of 10-minute appointment slots. Cut the red tape, filter out work handed to us from secondary care and clinical commissioning groups, and we could concentrate more on clinical work.

We also need to look at systems to improve access to primary care for those most in need, and be able to offer other innovative models – such as community pharmacies – for minor illnesses. This would need a wider commitment of resources. But above all, we do not need any more pointless change that drains our resources and morale even further.