Cumbria patients facing five-week wait for GP appointment

Some GP surgeries say receptionists are facing daily abuse from patients

GPs in parts of Cumbria say patients are facing waits up to five weeks for appointments because of backlogs caused by the pandemic.

One practice in Kendal said waits could be as long as five weeks, instead of the usual two, with up to 40% more calls received each day.

Dr Ed Clarke, from the James Cochrane Practice, said it was a struggle to manage demand, despite extra GPs.

Other surgeries said receptionists were facing daily abuse from patients.

Maryport GP Practice said it had seen higher Covid rates than at the start of the year which had affected staffing.

It warned patients not to subject staff to abuse.

BBC analysis of NHS Digital data in recent weeks showed the rate of face-to-face GP consultations in England has changed little since the winter lockdown.

There was also a significant variation with some areas seeing fewer than half in-person, but others close to 75%.

Kendal-based Dr Clarke - who said he regularly worked 12-hour days - said a number of colleagues were finding it "hard going" but all patients were being seen.

"At the moment I think some of my colleagues, if you want an appointment with them, it might be four or five weeks before you can get a routine appointment," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"A number are in the process of reducing sessions because they just can't keep the work-life balance going.

"We are used to putting in long shifts, it just feels this has been a long, long period of time."

'Coalface of patients'

He said while he had not faced abuse himself, he said the reception team had.

"One of the things that I am very conscious of is that our reception team are very much on the coalface of patients who are feeling stressed," he added.

Though I completely understand the frustration the patients are experiencing, I think some - and it's a small minority - are being completely inappropriate with staff and they are experiencing that on a daily basis."

He also encouraged patients to see other health professionals, such as pharmacists or physiotherapists, for minor ailments, with some based in surgeries.

"One of the things I hope we learn from the Covid pandemic is what problems can be dealt with safely and effectively over the phone and what problems we should be arranging face-to-face appointments straight away, without having a GP conversation first," he added.

"We are working on that and we are trialling a couple of systems at the moment to see if we can try and get that balance better."