1/14 I hesitated at voicing my opinion on this rather contentious issue…

But I feel that without individual testimonies, we will fail to understand why some GPs (myself included) feel mainstream primary care is no longer for them.

#GPCrisis
@HelenRSalisbury @MartinRCGP @rcgp
2/ Obvs the relentless vilification from the MSM hasn’t helped, esp the claim by some that the number of ‘part-time’ GPs is the problem.

Those on the inside know that a typical day is 11-12hrs long & a ‘half-day’ is regularly 7-8, but hey, let’s not let facts get in the way.
3/ & I don’t suppose those of us who volunteered to work f2f in acute #COVID services within the community in spring 2020 will forget that our pleas for effective #PPE were repeatedly ignored & dismissed by govt, PHE, NHSE, HSE & senior advisors.

@CMO_England @MattHancock @UKHSA
4/ I’ve been a Dr for almost 32yrs, a GP for 26.
At 56 I have several more yrs to give, many more patients to care for & much more experience to pass on.

But I won’t return to ‘normal’ general practice while it continues to pretend that a #TotalTriage model is good enough.
5/ It isn’t!

IMV it is a poor 2nd best that isn’t good for the health & wellbeing of patients or drs.

It’s a high risk, low satisfaction alternative.
This isn’t because I don’t handle risk well or am inexperienced but because I feel it is a fundamentally flawed model.
6/ Advocates of #AskMyGP, #DrFirst et al claim it saves time & in the absence of enough actual bodies on the ground, it’s the best/only service we can offer.

I disagree!

& from a HCP perspective it’s still a high pressure profession but with all the good bits taken out!
7/ I have a number of concerns about its safety - missed diagnoses/delayed diagnoses/safeguarding issues/communication problems/digital exclusion/inadequate supervision & education of students/F2 drs/GP trainees …etc..etc.
8/ & the inefficiency of patients having to speak to multiple ppl before actually seeing a clinician is not insignificant.

Are the increased risks that the inevitable delays frequently result in, acceptable for healthcare in a HIC like the UK in the 21st century?

I think not.
9/ From the beginning of our journey through medical school we are taught of the vital importance of taking a really good history & then spend years honing our examination skills.

Imagine taking a history with a blindfold on?
10/ Not being able to see a patient changes absolutely everything.

Consider how important it is to know about a patient’s general appearance/size/gait/mobility/dress/expression/level of hygiene/odour/mental state/behaviour….

Again, imagine taking a history with a blindfold on!
11/ Consultations done by phone or e-consult will be missing most or all of those non-verbal cues!

Does that not concern you, because it does me…Enough to decide I do not want to spend my final working yrs doing a job I love, in this fashion.
12/ I suspect this is all part of the same #NHSPrivatisation agenda. Non-clinicians are pulling strings they shouldn’t even be touching whilst successive health ministers have failed catastrophically to do adequate workforce planning.

You get what you pay for!
@Jeremy_Hunt
13/ I’m not saying #TotalTriage isn’t useful or safe in all situations - medication reviews, sick notes & reviews of stable chronic conditions CAN be done very well this way.

But for new problems, complex patients, anyone w/ impaired communication etc it can be fraught w/ risk.
14/ Finally, this is absolutely NOT a criticism of my hardworking, exhausted & demoralised GP colleagues who are valiantly trying to hold up the system as it collapses.

I salute you all 💙

#PrimaryCare #MedTwitter #NHSCrisis🚨

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More from @AlisonGeorge10

Mar 31
The situation in the #NHS is as bad as I’ve ever known it.

Multiple HCWs in our area are off sick with #COVID - nurses, consultants, GPs…all likely to be triple vaxed so they should avoid serious illness but still a risk of #LongCovid.

The impact on ALL HEALTHCARE is HUGE!
1/9
Operations, procedures, investigations, treatments, therapies….are delayed & cancelled every single day.

Waits for urgent care in A+E/UTCs is ⬆️, pressure on the ambulance service⬆️.

Care ACROSS the #NHS is being negatively affected by staff absences & a lack of beds.
2/
Care in some areas is no longer safe, in many it can only be described as ‘adequate’.

As @RachaelMaskell points out, hospitalisations are ⬆️….A LOT! Even admissions for other problems will be made more challenging if the patient has #COVID19.

Yet @sajidjavid does nothing?!
3/
Read 10 tweets
Feb 15
I read this with horror…

The government’s plan for ‘Living SAFELY with Covid’ is a terrifying joke. The key to their ‘strategy’ is to conceal the truth & allow spread to continue unchecked.

#WilfulNegligence
@sajidjavid @wesstreeting @LaylaMoran @AppgCoronavirus
@DHSCgovuk
1/
“Free Covid testing to be axed as cases and deaths keep falling”

🤔…when did the need to do a confirmatory PCR end?

Do journalists just accept this spin without questioning what has changed?

@thetimes @oliver_wright @katie_gibbons1 @NickTriggle
2/

thetimes.co.uk/article/b9f2f5…
Even the @UKHSA is urging caution - surely that should raise alarm bells 🚨!

After all, they gave us the limited & inaccurate list of #COVID symptoms, mixed messaging on testing & ‘you can only catch #COVID from ppl you don’t know’ BS.

If they are worried, we should all be.
3/
Read 9 tweets
Feb 13
1/3 Who decided that when considering #CovidVaccination for 5-12yr olds, the “impact on education” wasn’t a significant consideration?

Or that transmission to family (& teachers) shouldn’t be factored in to any decision?

Why was the remit of the #JCVI so limited?
@CMO_England Image
2- If 🇬🇧school kids had been offered vaccination like their international peers, the health, wellbeing & education of 1000s would’ve been better protected & countless lives could’ve been saved!
British exceptionalism has caused so much avoidable harm & suffering!

@RCPCHPresident
3- At what point will @10DowningStreet @educationgovuk & members of the #JCVI reflect on whether they’ve abused their power & failed an entire generation?

An unconscionable national safeguarding failure!

#WilfulNegligence
@Rachel_deSouza @ChildrensComm @nadhimzahawi @sajidjavid
Read 4 tweets
Jan 19
1/ I’ve tried to stay polite, but there comes a point in a healthcare professional’s life when ‘the gloves must come off’…

This reckless, irresponsible attempt to save the skin of your pathetic & dangerous leader by KILLING & MAIMING CHILDREN is a step too far!

@nadhimzahawi
2/You know the pain of losing a loved one to #COVID19, but are willing to subject millions of others to that pain to save @BorisJohnson, a man devoid of a moral compass or a shred of integrity & humanity!

@educationgovuk @bphillipsonMP @LaylaMoran @AppgCoronavirus @karamballes
3/Only a handful of <12s have been vaccinated & many 12-16yr olds aren’t fully vaccinated.

What in god’s name do you think you are doing removing face😷s from schools now?

MORE CHILDREN WILL DIE, MORE FAMILIES WILL BE BEREAVED…

@RCPCHPresident @Rachel_deSouza @CovidJusticeUK
Read 8 tweets
Jan 16
Every day that passes denying vaccination to 🇬🇧5-12yr olds will result in harm to a child somewhere @RCPCHPresident @Rachel_deSouza .

The #JCVI’s REFUSAL TO OFFER these children an @MHRAgovuk approved vaccine is IMO a national safeguarding concern.

#DeliberateMassInfection
1/
We have plenty of vaccines, in fact they are being wasted!

I would personally jump at the chance to give 5-12yr olds their first #CovidVaccination , I know many other HCPs who feel the same.

Parents like @Mangalang1 are desperate, some are seeking vaccination abroad.
2/
@chris_salt is campaigning for 5-12yr olds to be vaccinated & offering advice to parents able to travel.

Why is this happening in🇬🇧 whilst children of this age in many other parts of the world are being safely vaccinated & @MHRAgovuk have approved it?

3/
gov.uk/government/new…
Read 10 tweets
Jan 5
#PrimeMinister do you really understand the seriousness & gravity of what you’ve done?

You have today signed the unnecessary death warrants of 1000s of innocent ppl & consigned many 1000s of others to long term debilitating illness.🧵
@BorisJohnson @10DowningStreet @sajidjavid
2-Despite the determination to use a #RideTheWave analogy…

THIS IS NOT A GAME!

The lives (& avoidable deaths) of ordinary people may not bother you #PrimeMinister but they do bother my #NHS colleagues & I, & it pains us not to be able to care for people appropriately & safely.
3-The #NHS is NOT “in danger of being overwhelmed”

IT IS OVERWHELMED RIGHT NOW!

How anyone w/ even an iota of understanding of healthcare can’t see, that for ppl having an MI or other v serious event the need to make their own way to 🏥 is both UNSAFE & UNACCEPTABLE!
#nhscrisis
Read 9 tweets

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