In the United Kingdom, people who fall sick can seek medical attention from their General Practitioners (GPs) amid growing concerns over the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Dr. Jane Wheatley, a GP in North London, believes that there could be many people with the infection and the National Health Service (NHS) agrees to it.
She estimates that there could be more than 5000 cases across the nation and it is difficult to be sure without testing unavailable for every patient.
“We know there is community transmission,” said Dr. Wheatley. “Obviously we can’t tell which patients have the normal influenza virus or a cold and which ones have the COVID-19 disease. We can’t distinguish based on symptoms.”
She explained that it is impossible to get people tested unless they have been to a high-risk nation or had a closed contact with an infected person.
Dr. Wheatley said, “I’m going to see sick people, that’s what we do. But I want to have the right equipment to protect myself.”
Explaining that guidance for GPs has lagged behind that for hospital staff, she said, “Things weren’t happening quickly enough and we were making ourselves vulnerable. I don’t want to get sick, but I still want to do my job.”
“If I’m sick or even exposed and have to self-isolate, that leaves our surgery without a doctor, which puts extra strain on colleagues,” she added. “But I don’t want to infect elderly and vulnerable people, I don’t want to infect my colleagues, I don’t want to infect my family, my elderly relatives.”
She said it is important to implement a standardized way to manage people with respiratory complaints, such as telephonic consultation, so GPs could prevent getting infected.
So far, the United Kingdom has reported more than 1,390 cases and 35 deaths. Globally, the virus has affected more than 169,000 and killed over 6,500 people.
Dr. Wheatley warned regular patients to be prepared for delayed or disrupted appointments because health workers fall sick or have to self-isolate.
“I’m counseling patients on what’s coming. We’re always stretched, we work at capacity,” she said. “I’m not panicking, I’m taking precautions.”
At the same time, receptionists are also under great pressure because they deal with a high volume of calls.
One receptionist from Hertfordshire told BBC, “It’s just been chaos. I haven’t seen anything like it this before. It’s been very emotionally and physically draining. We are doing our best to help, but at the moment it’s a lot to handle.”
Dr. Martin Marshall, a GP in East London, said, “This is a massive crisis, probably the biggest crisis the NHS has ever had to face.”
Dr. Marshall, who is also chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ council, said family doctors are yet to get prepared for the epidemic. He added, “We need to be a little bit understanding of the pressures that the whole system is under.”
He explained it is imperative to take urgent action to help protect health workers and provide them the necessary information and technology for more online or telephonic consultations.
Dr. Marshall also explained that administrative tasks for GPs must be suspended during such crisis and health workers need to be tested on a priority basis.
“We’re not saying that health professionals are more important than patients, we’re saying that health professionals have a responsibility,” he said. “We, therefore, need to keep them as healthy as possible and we need to get them back into the workforce as quickly as possible. So we’re asking that health professionals are tested early.”
