Demand for GP services is up by 50% since last year, yet staff struggling to cope with the volume of work are still facing hostility and abuse from some patients.
Firs House surgery continues to be the target of “derogatory, unfounded and sometimes aggressive and threatening comments” as patients’ frustrations boil over at the constraints on medical care created by the pandemic.
Demand for medical services in the village has grown by 50% since March 2020 and to cope with the extra work, face to face appointments have had to be limited to those assessed as having the greatest clinical need.
But not everyone is happy with the emergency arrangements. While most patients have expressed gratitude for the care the surgery has continued to provide throughout the Covid-19 crisis, the negative behaviours directed at surgery staff that HI HUB reported in March continue.
Threats, inappropriate demands, shouting and swearing, and personal insults have all been thrown at staff working flat out to provide patient care.
Overworked
Firs House is leading the Covid vaccination programme in the area for a Primary Care Network of GP Practices and the team staffing the local community vaccination hubs in Milton and Over are often doing so in addition to their day jobs, sometimes working shifts at weekends, on their days off and during their annual leave.
Organising, planning and running these clinics takes a huge amount of time away from both clinical and admin staff, who at the same time, are under huge pressure from the public to deliver ‘service as usual’.
Insulting comments such as “your service is disgusting” and “this is not good enough” have led the surgery to remind people on Facebook that “our reception staff cannot create appointments where we do not have clinicians.”
Having to deal with patient hostility has been “incredibly disheartening” for the team, the surgery says, as are “inaccurate social media posts from people who have made no attempt to contact the surgery to resolve issues they may be experiencing.”
They said: “We hope you can understand why we find the suggestion that ‘GP’s are not working hard enough’, or ‘not at all’ as claimed on some media platforms, is offensive, irresponsible and not reflective of the vast majority of practices across England.
“Please understand that every member of the practice team has gone above and beyond, sometimes at the cost to themselves and their family, to ensure that the patients get the best possible care that we can deliver.”
Additional information and full contact details for Firs House Surgery can be found at their website.