Frome Medical Practice facing increasing pressures

FROME Medical Practice is asking patients to support the practice and help ensure those with the greatest need can be seen over the coming winter months. General practice across the country is under increasing strain and this situation is reflected at Frome Medical Practice.

The partners at the practice say they recognise the current challenges with accessing appointments with a GP and other clinicians and acknowledge this is getting increasingly difficult.

A spokesperson for the Practice says, “The competition to get an appointment early in the morning is a problem for many patients and the we understand the difficulties this is creating for the community but we hope that an explanation of the pressures might help patients understand the situation being faced.” The situation nationally GPs and their teams are working under intense workload and workforce pressures.

Across England, the number of fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs fell from 29,364 in September 2015 to 27,515 in August 2022, a drop of 1,849.

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), said, “GPs are leaving the workforce at all stages in their career, with many citing exhaustion and burnout as their reasons for leaving. Indeed, a recent RCGP survey suggested almost a quarter of GPs across the UK were so stressed that they felt they could not cope most days or every day. This is not just impacting GPs but their patients too, with over 68% of GPs expressing concerns they don’t have enough time to properly assess their patients.”

How the national issues are reflected locally

The team at Frome Medical Practice are not immune from the loss of GPs and other health care practitioners and the strain that teams working within primary care are under.

Dr Helen Kingston is the senior partner at the practice and says she is increasingly concerned about the demand for appointments, as well as for the welfare of the team working at the practice. She said, “We are working hard to strike a delicate balance between ensuring we make as many appointments available each day and ensuring we are not putting our staff at risk. We know the local community is increasingly frustrated about accessing appointments. But we want to give some context about the kind of pressure the team are under and dispel some of the myths that are circulating, such as the lack of appointment availability and face to face appointments.

“Our GPs and clinicians are consulting with an average of 40-50 patients per day. Some of this work does take place over the telephone, which makes us much more efficient and suits many patients. But this can make waiting rooms appear empty and assumptions are then made that we aren’t seeing patients.

“Please bear in mind when you see an empty waiting room this is because the consulting rooms are being used for patient phone calls or other clinical activity, such as writing our referrals to secondary care, interpreting test results and so on. And we have become much more efficient about managing patient flow within the building when we are seeing people face to face, so there is less waiting around for patients.

“We are facing losses within the profession, and at the same time we are seeing an increased demand for services. There are many complex reasons for this, including a growing population, a rising number of elderly and frail patients and longer waits to access secondary care which means primary care continues to look after these patients.

“We are also faced with an increased amount of work transferred from hospitals to general practice, a growing list of new medications and treatments which require monitoring and managing and an increased need for mental health support.

“This all means it’s increasingly difficult to get through to the practice for routine appointments in the morning and we are aware this causes frustration. “We are doing our very best under difficult circumstances to provide a good service and we also really need your help. Please be kind, polite and patient when contacting the practice, as we have seen increasing verbal abuse to our staff and this makes it even harder and more demoralising for our teams when helping you with your requests.”

“If you are struggling to access care then, as well as giving us feedback, we would encourage you to write to your MP or the Secretary of State for Health explaining the strain primary care is under and how difficult it is for primary care to increase capacity when faced with a reduced workforce. The NHS needs to support our GPs, nurses, and allied health professionals rather than putting extra pressure on the system at a time of great fragility.”

To read more about what the practice is trying to do to improve the situation, as well as how patients can help visit: www. fromemedicalpractice.co.uk