GPs in west Devon facing 'relentless' demand

Dr Best said the demand GPs were facing was "relentless"

A Devon GP has spoken about his experiences as surgeries face exceptionally high demand.

Dr Matt Best, GP and partner at Yelverton Surgery, said he "burnt out" in 2021, and had to take six weeks off work.

He spoke about working 70-hour weeks to make sure all of his patients receive appropriate care.

Dr Best said the demand GPs were facing was "relentless".

Talking about having to take time off in 2021, Dr Best said: "I burnt out. I had six weeks off work because the amount of clinical demand and the pressure was just too much at the time."

'In pieces'

The GP said "the straw that broke the camel's back" was having to administer flu vaccines for 12 hours on a Saturday, at the end of a "very long week".

Dr Best added: "I was working 50, 60, 70-hour weeks prior to then, and then this was another thing, this was on a Saturday.

"So I spent 12 hours that day doing vaccinations, and I was in pieces I must say on Sunday morning."

Figures from the Local Medical Committee (LMC) show before the pandemic Devon's GPs were doing an average of just over 20,000 consultations a day. Now, that has increased to nearly 40,000.

A recent report from the LMC said the impact of the summer leave period and associated influx of tourists into the county was "already being felt".

Demand has doubled

The report also said practices were reporting noticeable increases in volume and demand, and furthermore, increasing incidents of patient abuse and aggression.

NHS Devon said it had supported additional capacity in GP practices by providing £1.2m funding for additional capacity from May to July.

Dr Matt Best spoke about how daily demand had doubled since before the pandemic.

"It's relentless, pre-pandemic we were probably expecting about 1.5% of our population to contact on any given day, that's now risen to over 3%," Dr Best said.

He added: "So, it's a doubling effect since the pandemic, and we don't have double the workforce."

Hard to recruit

For the third time this month, Devon's GPs are on red alert, meaning more than a third of practices say they could fail within six months, unless given more support.

The latest weekly status update from the LMC shows demand for consultations is "exceptionally high" in the west of the county.

The government said it was funding a scheme to bring doctors into hard to recruit areas, including 82 places in the South West.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are hugely grateful to Devon GPs and their staff for the care they provide to patients and we are working hard to support and grow the workforce in order to beat the Covid backlogs.

"Numbers of doctors in general practice are increasing - there are record numbers in GP training, and over 1,400 more full time equivalent doctors in general practice in March 2022 compared to March 2019.

"We made £520m available to improve access and expand general practice capacity during the pandemic, including a £250m Winter Access Fund. This has helped create additional NHS hubs and helplines, expand home visiting capacity and fund additional shifts from staff."

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