The Patient Participation Group (PPG) and the surgery are aware of social media criticism of Major Oak Surgery recently. The PPG’s job is to act as critical friends to the practice; they have asked on your behalf for a GP’s typical timetable. Nationally, GPs are striving to provide more access to their patients.
Dr Gopi provided a typical daily routine:
Predictable work
• 30 ten-minute appointments spread over five-plus hours.
• One or two home visits – often very time consuming as house-bound patients can require complex diagnoses, then on-going monitoring and assessment.
• Filing clinic letters and discharge summaries – highlighting the main aspects of the visit. Diagnoses then coded into the computer system. Future actions set in place – liaison with specialist clinicians. This element of a GP’s work is vital and time-consuming – a bespoke clinical timetable for numerous patients cannot be rushed and incorporates prescription medicines and testing the results before adding to the repeat list. Ensuring the reception team contacts patients to arrange for blood pressure and blood tests. Only after full diagnosis and assessment can patients be put on long-term care plans.
• Prescription requests – monthly requests relating to a wide range of conditions, reviewing repeat prescriptions periodically.
• Returning patients’ calls – often extending to the evening, even after care is handed over to the out-of-hours service.
• Weekly ward rounds in nursing homes.
• Non-NHS work – completion of medical sections of forms for insurance, adoption documents, letters supporting applications for housing, blue badge, Personal Independence Payment etc.
• Meetings – Practice, PPG, GP partnership etc.
• GP Registrar de-briefing – supporting the GP registrar (GP in training) at the practice. Discussing all the patients they have seen through the day.
Unpredictable work
• Calls from paramedics regarding practice patients.
• Calls from hospital doctors regarding practice patients.
• Nursing home visits to assess patients, often expanding to other residents and responding to queries from relatives.
• Emergency visits.
• Emergency appointments.
• Accidents – eg someone has fallen and injured themselves on the High Street.
• Medical complexities – visits and appointments requiring more time than allocated.
