The Crisis in General Practice.

With the federal election just weeks away, there does seem to be some attention on General Practice.

That it is suffering badly and in some cases completely breaking down.

You may be feeling the effects of this.

Exhaustion.

Numbness.

Frustration.

Endless problems with difficult or no solutions.

It can be quite difficult to even wake up and face yet another day of working like this.

Perhaps you have noticed a generalised sense of overwhelming fatigue.

And you have to reach deeper into reserves just to see the next patient.

Look, it's been amazing what GPs have done over the last 5,10 and 15 years.

Extracting ever more from ever less.

Little or no investment has happened into GP (medicare freezes) yet we have faced increasing complexity, more paperwork, more regulation and more risk.

And then the intense strain of COVID was placed upon us.

Do this.

Do that.

Confused patients seeking answers in a world of confusion.

And they came to us to seek what they could not find in the giant mess of COVID.

And so now we are increasingly seeing the effects of this…

GPs are working fewer hours.

GP are working less days.

GP are quitting.

GP going on stress leave.

You may have had the thought, as I did - “why am I doing this work?”

Or perhaps you have had your patients say to you “I don’t know how you do this work?”...

And you might have thought… “I don’t know how I am doing this either”.

But the toll is clear.

GP is under severe strain and it is breaking.

Unfortunately, there do not seem to be any easy solutions to the problems we face.

Even worse, it doesn’t seem there are even any difficult solutions.

Look after yourself and remember - GP is just a job.

Seek help if you need it.

Let me know whether this rings true for you by replying back.