I’m a senior GP partner of a practice with 7500 patients. Been there 13 years. It’s rare that I don’t hear of a patients good or sad news and not instantly recall their face, their family, the time x happened. They try to portray us as lazy don’t cares. It’s simply untrue.
#TeamGP
Sadly many think GPs are lazy failed hospital drs. GPs are specialists in managing risk and quick decisions. A new problem every 10 min, sometimes a list of probs, often no prior info, no immediate access to tests or facility sit and observe. Decide. Act.
#TeamGP
#ichosetobeaGP
@Dr_BellaR
Yes 100 percent. Being able to recognise when you aren’t able to objectively assess patient and asking for support is being a good doctor imo xx sending hugs 🤗
My teenage goddaughter who is hoping to be a doctor asked why I never wanted to specialise or was it that I couldn’t so I became a GP? I’m a GP by choice. GPs are specialists in risk management and communication. I’m privileged to share in so many peoples lives.
#teamGP
❤️
Child patient with severe autism undergoing GA for dental decay soon and the dentist wrote to GP to ask if she needs any bloods taking as she knows it’s a struggle otherwise. What a thoroughly refreshing MDT approach. Faith restored. Thank you 🤩 🥰
#teamwork
#dentist
#TeamGP
I’m a GP trainer, not all GPs are qualified to train (yes it’s a qualification) love training GPs and have 2 trainees currently. My partners also have. I literally could not spare the time mentally/physically to train any more and we have no physical space to put them!
#teamGP
Sat my sons 6 and 11 down to tell them about the
#SolihullLakeTragedy
. They looked sad then said ‘normally thick ice doesn’t break though does it?’ 😵💫Boys are hard wired to take risks that they don’t even see as risks, this could have been any of our sons🥲. 🙏🙏
Can anyone in
#TeamGP
or just anyone signpost me,a senior GP partner to these ‘other appropriate services’ we can send patients to at 8am if we don’t have an ‘immediate appointment’ to give because I’ve no staff and more demand than I’ve ever seen? It could really help. Anyone?
I love my job as a GP but I get tired. Tired of being publicly ‘owned’ and tired of being a human punch bag for not meeting patients expectations. I’m a mum, a wife, a sister, I’m me. I have a right to put effort and time into these things too.
#TeamGP
🤗
Less than 3 yrs ago we advertised for a salaried GP, in a good training practice, decent salary. We had zero applicants, twice over. We now get weekly contacts from GPs asking if we have any work going. We don’t. Your inability to see a GP is no longer due to GP shortage.
#teamGP
Morrisons at 7am as an nhs worker. Ive worked many hours all week and cupboards are bare. Didn’t feel right. I’m grateful the nhs is getting some positivity but what about all the care staff, mortuary workers, social care that work for the council? We work as one.
#COVID19
#nhs
Not an ICU dr, a GP-I’m Fully vaccinated as are my loved ones because I *know* it is the single most important thing I can do to avoid ICU or death from
#COVID
. I respect my hospital colleagues who are under great strain and this is how I can help them a little.
#vaxxeddoctors
My middle child just asked if I could take his tonsils out. When I explained this wasn’t my area came the question ‘I’m not being rude but what can you actually do?’ That my friends is the current situation facing GPs 🤣🤣
#teamGP
I’m a GP trainer. By far one of the hardest skills to teach & learn as a GP is to manage and hold risk. Not having immediate access to tests, time to monitor, someone else review patient can create great anxiety & stress in trainees (and some GPs).
#TeamGP
#ichosetobeaGP
#NHS
I’m just a GP trying to cope with winter demand plus a computer system that crashes every 9th minute and a request to ‘change this medication to an alternative due to stock shortages’ every 12th minute. Give me strength 🙏
#teamGP
#medicationshortages
#Primarycare
Patient ‘kicked off’ at staff today as they didn’t want to give us their blood pressure or weight as (and I paraphrase) they’ve ‘found out’ we get paid for that info and why should we? General practice 2024 ladies and gents.
#teamGP
This is the annual reminder that viruses still don’t get better with antibiotics just because it’s Christmas in 6 days 😃. Come see us in
#teamGP
if you’re poorly but don’t hate me when I give you the same advice about a virus il give you in January. Im not being mean 😁🎄❤️🎄🙏
Someone once asked me why I was actually vaccinating people in a clinic when I was leading the programme. I maintain that leaders need to at least periodically man the shop floor. That’s my personal view and I hope it never changes.
#CFSME
:update to
@NICEComms
guidance removing the recommendation for
#gradedexcercise
For years I’ve felt inadequate as a
#GP
trying to help patients with this terrible illness telling them to exercise when they can’t. Now we need to ensure we have the services to support.
Got a little bit emotional this morning on
@BBCBreakfast
I don’t want to lose any more colleagues to this job. I’ve been contacted by so many of you with support. Thank you and please pass this support to your own GPs and health staff.
#TeamGP
'When we can't give patients what they deserve we take that home with us'
On
#BBCBreakfast
Dr Helen Wall talked about the challenges faced by GP's after the partner of Dr Gail Milligan said 'the pressure of the job got to her' after she died by suicide
GP Room 101: nurseries asking parents to get teething gel prescribed by a GP or they won’t give.
#childcare
please don’t do this. It’s a nonsensical waste of an overstretched under resourced service. And it doesn’t make it any safer for the child. Thank you 🤯
#TeamGP
Blown away by the amount of Twitter traffic re
#CFSME
since I commented on
@NICEComms
removing
#GET
. I wonder if focus on
#LongCovid
will help understanding and listening re
#CFSME
. No one should have to feel disbelieved, guilty, helpless, hopeless whatever the illness 😢
13 hour A/e waits ‘Being fuelled by GPs’- what’s your evidence for this please
@DailyMailUK
? As a GP that also works with a trust as a clinical director of commissioning I don’t have any. Patients being admitted via A/E don’t need a GP. They need a hospital.
#nhscrisis
#TeamGP
Next week i will leave my beloved
#Bolton
and join the GM team in my new role as Clinical Director of population health for Greater manchester leading all age immunisations and screening. Thanks to all my wonderful Bolton colleagues but time for the next chapter. 😀🎉😀🎉
When your GP trainee rings you whilst he’s on a home visit and you think something bads going down then he says ‘I’m going through
@StarbucksUK
drive through on my way back what do you want?’ I have no doubt whatsoever he’s been well trained. 🤣
#teamGP
#gptraining
#NHS
😩shirty letter from hosp consultant saying patient has tried to contact us numerous times for a flu jab and we haven’t offered it &we must. Numerous entries in patients notes whereby patient Contacted trying to give flu jab. Have even offered evening apt. Please don’t do this😩
Relatively elderly patient asked for GP home visit for ongoing chronic issue. GP arrived to find patient wasn’t in. Patient later advised was at another appointment with a hcp that doesn’t ‘offer’ visits. Fair? Or serious undervaluing GP resource? Discuss….
#TeamGP
GPs get a lot of flack for ‘not seeing people face to face’ we have through out but just binned a lot of our tel appointments for face to face. Patients are complaining. They don’t want to come in. We literally can’t win 😫😫😫
#teamGP
Last wk a patient told my staff they’d sleep through Xmas due to being alone 🥲. They rang around found a voluntary group
@BoltonCVS
; picked them up, fed them, entertained them and took them home on Xmas day. The patient was ecstatic. This is community care & I love it 🥰
#teamGP
Feeling a bit emotional tonight as
@BritishArmy
leave
#teambolton
whirlwind of a month battling
#DeltaVariant
.what I’ve learned? 1. Listen to and engage your population they know what barriers they face 2. Great work relationships pay dividends in a crisis. 3. Positivity helps
Prescriptions coming back into GP practice for ‘an alternative’ due to medication shortages is becoming full time prescribers job…..not to mention the pressure on pharmacies and the run around for patients…..any hope of it improving? (she says doubtfully)
#teamGP
@pharmthorrun
Feels like the country (maybe world) are watching
#bolton
#covid
right now but within that
#vaccine
site the external ‘noise’ becomes largely inaudible because each and every vaccine means one more of our
#Boltonfamily
are one step closer to
#stayingsafe
🙏
#TeamBolton
keep going
2500 vaccinations in one day. All walk ins. Set up in 36 hours. Couldn't have done it without our
#BoltonICP
partners and incredible work integrating the
@stjohnambulance
team. So proud of the collective effort
#ThisIsFederations
Wow what a day what an honour. A huge thank you to colleagues and staff
@BoltonUni
for the award of honorary doctorate for services to healthcare and public health. 🙏
#uniasitshouldbe
.
Just home from working at the covid assessment centre this evening. Had to call A/E to advise I was sending a poorly probably covid19 patient in to which the A/E SIster then asked ‘and are you ok?’ Simple words but meant so much.
#nhsfamily
#COVID19
#FrontLineHeroes
@boltonnhsft
Not sure what happened last night. Absolutely overwhelmed and not really sure what I’ve done to win 2
#SheInspires2022
awards. Best of all £10k to
@boltonhospice
thank you
@BoltonUni
Thanks for all the love. Totally overwhelmed right now 😘
No we will not be beaten. People of
#bolton
let’s do what Bolton people do best pull together; get an asymptomatic
#pcr
test if you live in BL3, isolate if symptomatic, get your
#vaccine
if eligible.
#teambolton
💪
GPs like myself are still being criticised for spending my own unpaid time doing things other than seeing patients. Yet GPs are struggling to find work because practice finances are on the brink. One more time: if I’m not in the practice seeing patients I’m not being paid
#teamGP
8am annual high risk
#breastscreening
✅. Hate it. Every year. Lying face down in mri for 30 min stripped off. I hate the fact my mum got
#breastcancer
in her 40s even more & I refuse to let my kids go through same. Don’t normally share but as I start as screening lead tomorrow🤷🏼♀️
I’m either 1. Getting palpably older or 2. ‘GP ing’ is getting more physically and mentally demanding because I’m actually knackered tonight. Now I can’t stop thinking of the poorly patients I saw and hoping they’re ok. And I can’t move.
#teamGP
anyone else?
Been to see Mum for Christmas. 17th one at the graveyard. Took her favourite flowers, noted there’s a birds nest in the tree above her-she’d love that. The below really resonated with me👇🏻. Not everyone can be with those they love this Christmas ❤️ .
#grief
credit: Grief Speaks.
Locals on fb calling for GPs to be fined for running late, not having enough appointments, keeping them on hold on phone, one chap 40 min late for his apt told he was late-he’s disgusted. Please fine us. Whatever you think will help🤷🏼♀️🤔
#teamgp
#NHSPrivatisation
#nhscrisis
If anyone needs me this aft il be mostly under 10 million prescription requests making sure everyone has 4 months medication supply in for the 4 days we are closed; (eating love hearts 💕 waiting for system to reboot). Wouldn’t be Christmas in
#teamGP
without these things 😃🧑🎄 🎄
Don’t know who needs to hear this; I’m a Senior GP partner and if all of my employed GPs & partners decided tomorrow they’ll work full time in practice- couldn’t afford them. ‘Part time’ GPs get paid part time wages. GP practices are businesses we have to balance books
#TeamGP
In Bolton & Blackburn we’re undertaking the biggest surge of resources into any local area we’ve seen during this pandemic so far.
It’s brilliant to see so many people in these areas coming forward to get protected.
If you’re eligible, please book a jab.
Feel sick to hear the stats on
#pregnant
women with
#covid
. 200 admitted to hospital last week. One in ten ending up on critical care. Increased stillbirths and prematurity. It’s getting harder and harder to stomach this when we have ample means to stop it.
#GetVaccinated
Lakes with kids-5 days. Receptio said a patient asked to speak to me & when told I’m on hol replied ‘holiday?? She only works 2 days what does she need a holiday for?’ I work more than full time just not all in that practice. This my friends is typical dehumanisation of
#TeamGP
Every Wednesday for 4 weeks when I come into the practice someone has left me a packet of love hearts just like this. I don’t know who you are but you do make me smile. Thank you ❤️
#teamGP
What is more upsetting that the town I love being top of the covid stats is the amount of abuse and trolling be levelled at my council, PH and health colleagues working around the clock in unknown waters
#teambolton
#onlyhuman
#pleasestop
🙏
If you contact me clearly just wanting an
#antivax
#antimaskers
#conspiracy
theory debate or abuse. Please don’t assume Im not replying because I’ve ‘’been caught out’’. It’s because I’m not wasting my precious time when you have no intention of reasonable conversation.
#bitbusy
👍
when
#bbcbreakfast
asked me to speak about the awful loss of Dr Gail mulligan I was worried.Thank u to everyone who’s with supported. Let’s not let this terrible loss be for nothing. Let’s spread the word. GPs are working and we want better for our colleagues and patients
#teamGP
#TeamGP
: Google reviews for GP practices. So demoralising. I get it’s people’s free speech but we’ve had another complaining about how bad a service was that we don’t even offer! Often people leave there names and they aren’t our patient! No verification at all. No right to reply
Interrupted between patients because a prescription needed amending from a cream to ointment for the SAME eczema medication. Poor patient had brought it back and waited as desperately struggling. Someone please end this madness!
@pharmthorrun
#teamGP
#pharmacists
Went back to the wards yesterday
@boltonnhsft
after many years to help vaccinate inpatients 20 years after working there as an HCA and 10 years after GP training. Always a special place in my ❤️ for
@boltonnhsft
#teambolton
#COVIDVaccine
Feeling quite emotional tonight. 15 Dec 2020 knowing we were starting a massive journey I gave the first
#covidvaccine
in Bolton with tears in my eyes. Just 2m on tomorrow we’ve given over 65000 first doses in
#bolton
and 15 million UK wide. Thank you 🙏
#teambolton
Words can not explain what a huge huge loss this is to
#teambolton
. This man was kind, empathic, supportive, patient and fair. He gave 110% support to me and the
#covidvaccine
programme and
#teambolton
.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but
#StrepA
is a well known, long-standing bacteria that lives on skin, In throats and has caused infections of varying severity forever. There is zero evidence it’s caused by the child nasal flu vaccine that we’ve been giving in uk since 2013
‘Eye of the variant storm’
@BBCNews
this is not ‘just a job’ for so many of us on this mission it’s an emotional rollercoaster of tears, tantrums and comradery. I will not let this town go under. ‘Let’s not take the foot off now’
#teambolton
In any market when something is in short supply the cost of it to acquire goes up. Rather than take this as a slur on ‘greedy GPs’ let it be a warning of just how sparse our workforce is. Several GP jobs I’ve advertised haven’t had any applications
#TeamGP
Got the dreaded call last pm-‘neighbours baby has stopped breathing come now’. The call no one wants to make or receive. Despite all our concerns
@NWAmbulance
turned up within minutes 👏 and baby is ok🙏 great work guys thank you 😊
If anyone else wants to know why I don’t take holidays, don’t sleep much, live and breath this here it is. Took on a mission to get everyone in
#bolton
a
#covidvaccine
and we are still going strong 💪
#teambolton
People say being a GP is a lonely job. I say it can be if you not in the right team. All our staff clinical and non clinical came in to a rose on their desk today from our msk practitioner. What a morale boost. You know who you are thank you ❤️
#teamGP
Asked by
@CBSNews
in interview what advice id give to the rest of the world to increase
#vaccine
uptake. Little old me from
#bolton
🤣
#sureeal
listen to your populations and understand them. That’s all. 🙏
Awarded honorary doctorate yesterday but look who I shared it with
@OwainWynEvans
👀 what a genuinely lovely chap to share this special event with 👏
@BBCBreakfast
Anyone else have a mental block when it comes to putting FP10 scripts in the printer? I’ve only been doing it every week for circa 15 years and I still hold my breath to see if they print the right way round… (mostly 50:50 chance).
#TeamGP
This school and it’s staff have been amazing. Ive been flying about all week and hardly slept was sat on a bench for 2 min today
@EssaAcademy
having a min and a staff member knocked on the window asked if I wanted a brew.
@EssaAcademy
you are gems 😍
Our catering staff have been outside providing our vaccination bus staff with free lunches 🥪 We'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone for your hard work this week! ⭐
@boltongpfed
@BoltonCCG
2022 General practice; patients contacting us desperate for help to buy food/even be prescribed nutritional shakes as feeling so weak having paid their energy bills/ petrol to get to work/ increasing costs unable to eat.Working families in 2022😥
#energycrisis
#poverty
#FuelPrices
The workforce shortage in GP is crippling. Clinicans (if you can recruit) can name their terms. Seems impossible to get a locum or even salaried GP to work GP core hours 8-6.30pm. Trainees also can’t do these hours. How is it sustainable? Genuine q not being offensive
#teamGP
Locum GP work is ‘drying up’. Because we are over run with GPs? No. Prefer ARRS staff? No (although I value them a lot). Gp practices are businesses and we too have rising bills etc. mostly we can’t afford locums, if we do we can’t afford other costs … and ourselves
#teamGP
I’ve received many messages of support for
#teambolton
. I want to thank every single one of you. I can promise you I’m not upset by the level of unwarranted abuse towards me from anti-vax but concerned about their level of aggression and what this means for us as a society 😢
Look at those eye bags!! 😆 is it really
#christmas
next week 🎅 help! Huge shout out to everyone keeping jabbing 😴 whilst juggling other jobs
#teamgp
#nhs
. You are all stars ⭐️ and I’m so proud of you all. I’m leaving practice shortly 😀.
#Omicron
#covidvariant
My 3 year old has just declared that he doesn’t like me having to keep going back to work. He wants someone else’s mummy to look after the poorly people instead.
#simplesoul
#COVID
ー19
#nhs
16yrs ago today I sat in the day room
@boltonhospice
with my best friend, my mum.spoke about her favourite; blossom trees, my impending medical finals and wedding. She was going to get a Jaques vert 2 piece to wear. Today this feather landed at my feet. She’s still hereRIP 4/5/06
BA5 variant
#covid19
common emerging symptoms appear to be high fever, neck pain and stiffness and headache. These are also meningitis symptoms;be cautious. For those of you testing it seems to become positive only at few days in. Rates going up 30% a week.
#COVID19
#BBCBreakfast
12m ago I was praying for a
#covidvaccine
, 7 m ago I was turning people down who weren’t eligible, large queues, long clinics, people pleading. Today we have clinics staffed, with vaccines waiting for patients. What else can we do to get people to come forwards?
#covidvaccine
Lovely early(!) morning
@MediaCityUK
with the
@BBCBreakfast
crew talking about vaccine hesitancy not being the same as
#vaccine
refusal. Confidence, complacency, convenience affect uptake. People should make their own choice when ready I’m here to support that process.
Feeling bad as I know rest of nhs is crippled but actually I still love ❤️ being a GP. Do I work full time as a GP? No. Do I work full time ? More than. 💯 my patients get 💯 me when I’m there ❤️❤️
#teamGP
When you’re just about keeping your head above water juggling mumlife, doctorlife and general what am I doing next life and bam along comes
#WorldBookDay2023
dress up AND make a
#bookinajar
gate. EVERY blooming year this is sent to finish working mums (parents!) (me) off 😩
Another day in practice reissuing prescriptions due to drug shortages. My particular fav today changing a whole prescription that the patient had had to come back with because they only had 60g tubes not 30g in stock. To be clear this is not the fault of pharmacists.
#teamGP
17 years ago I was practically living
@boltonhospice
with mum. The last convos I had with her were about how much she loved blossoms but they reminded her of her mum dying. She died 4th May surrounded by blossom trees like this. Today I’ve been back for
#trustee
meeting🥰