Business As Usual…Or Carry On Covid

MY daughter turned to me last week and asked: “Mum, what did everyone talk about before Coronavirus?”

“Brexit,” I said, “And you used to go to school…”

There is no doubt that everyone’s life has changed during the last few months and your local GP practice is no exception.

Here, at New Valley Practice, we quickly realised that not only did we have to manage the Covid-19 pandemic, we also had to carry on with …well, everything else that we usually do. This meant adopting new practices so that patients can come up to the surgery without having to worry about catching anything nasty.

You may not have followed the machinations of the NHS over the last few years but to cut a very long and tortuous story short, GP practices have joined up with other GP practices to form Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

We (New Valley Practice) are in a PCN called Mid Devon Healthcare (MDH). MDH also has Bow and North Tawton Medical Practice, Chiddenbrook Surgery, Mid Devon Medical Practice, Wallingbrook Health Group and Cheriton Bishop and Teign Valley.

MDH is then part of a bigger Network of PCNs called East Devon. East Devon then joins with North, South and West to form Devon Primary Care.

I hope you are following all this.

This infrastructure has meant that we have been able to implement important changes in practice across Devon in the time that it takes to send a couple of WhatsApp messages.

Whilst you don’t really need to know the ins and outs of the infrastructure, I thought it might be reassuring for you to know that the changes you will come across in your local practice are based on evidence, national guidance and will be the same at other practices across Devon.

Things certainly look a bit different.

The first thing you will notice when you ring us, is that you won’t be able to book a face-to-face appointment. You will be encouraged to fill in an “e-consult” or, if you are not able to, you will be asked to give some details of your appointment request to the receptionist.

You may then receive a telephone appointment. If the clinician wishes to see you, you may be asked to join them via video link. Space age!

We are trying to diagnose and treat as much as we can without actually being in the same room.

If the video link won’t work – for instance if you need a blood test or an injection – we might try and see you in the car park! This avoids a lot of cleaning for us and seemed like a really good idea in April. Of course, it was sunny in April…

Last week, it was not so sunny. We sat in our waiting room looking out at the rain beating down on the windows rather glumly.

Karen Hoskins, our extremely resourceful practice manager, and her trusty assistant, Hilary, went off with determined looks on their faces – and 24-hours later we had a drive through marquee installed in the car park.

You can now have a blood test, injection or your oxygen saturation’s measured without having to leave the comfort of your own car. And we don’t have to clean the room behind you.

If you are invited to actually set foot inside the building, you will need to ring to let us know you have arrived. You will have your temperature checked at the threshold. The clinician will be wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Please note you will be unlikely to understand much of what your clinician says to you as a face mask and visor can really get in the way of a two-way conversation. This means that we try and do all the talking by telephone first.

Once you enter the building, you will need to wash your hands and then you will be asked to “Mmmmf mmmf mmmf..”.

So, apart from the convoluted appointment booking system, the face masks and the incessant hand washing and cleaning, nothing much has changed.

We are still here if you need us – but we ask for your patience and understanding. If you want to be helpful, please register for the NHS App and use e consult whenever possible.

I would also like to send out huge thanks, not just to our staff, but to all the carers, community therapists and pharmacy staff who are working on the front line to keep everyone safe and well.

For all of us, for now, it’s just business as usual.

Dr Joanna Harris