Thread by @LouHaigh

1/12 Much has been reported in the media & commented on by the govt about GPs not offering appointments. I've had constituents contact me to say they've struggled.

So I've been visiting GPs and staff to see what's going on.

2/12 NHS staff worked under huge pressure over the last 18 months, helping us all cope during the pandemic. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that we were all applauding them.

Some GPs in #Sheffield never once closed their doors but all of them now have huge backlogs to deal with.

3/12 A lot of people stayed away from the doctor during the pandemic & as a result they're now turning up with a whole variety of problems that need treating.

People are a lot more ill than they were 18 months ago, and understandably they want to be treated.

4/12 But GPs can't offer everyone lengthy face-to-face appointments, they have to be dealt with in order of urgency & according to capacity.

5/12 So, increasingly, lots of people are being offered phone appointments, which is helpful for triaging people & really convenient for people in work. But it's not necessarily what everyone wants, & not what people are used to.

6/12 This seems to be driving the narrative that it's impossible to get an appointment. Face-to-face are being offered, but when it's necessary.

I'm not speaking for all GPs here, I'm sure there are some that are not doing as much as they could.

7/12 But the vast majority of my local ones are working really hard to serve their patients and clear the backlog.

Ultimately, our NHS as a whole is massively underfunded.

8/12 Mental health in particular is in such a dire state that GPs have nowhere to refer people to, or if they do, they're languishing on waiting lists for months on end.

9/12 The underlying issues that are making people ill - deprivation in particular - are not issues that GPs can tackle on their own, they need community support services wrapped round them which have all but disappeared.

10/12 One of the things that I found most shocking was the level of abuse that GPs' receptionists were receiving - violent and misogynistic threats that made them seriously considering packing in their jobs.

11/12 Abusing staff, either verbally or threatening physical violence is not acceptable. I understand that some people are frustrated when they are unable to reach their GP or when they're not offered an appointment, but this should never result in violence or abuse.

12/12 We already have a crisis in NHS staffing and it looks set to only get worse.

Rather than pitting people against the NHS, the government needs to set out how it's going to overcome the massive challenges we face.