I thought it would be of interest to people to know how GPs spend  time in the practice, so when you see us whizzing around the place you why!

My typical working week is as follows:

Mondays:  I have become a GP with a Special Interest in Mental Health for the local Primary care Trust (PCT).  As part of this, I am the clinical lead for a major project developing a new service which will allow quick access to psychological therapies, starting from next April.  This sometimes means I have to attend training courses, give lectures or work with different organisations on the days I normally see patients—so bear with me over the next 2 years.

Tuesdays:  I arrive at work at 9.00 am after the school run.  Other partners start from 8.00 am onwards, arriving at the practice from 7.30 am onwards.  I see 15 patients over 2.5 hours.  We offer 10 minute appointments, as part of our NHS contract, though complex cases can take a lot longer.  Thank you to all my ‘patient’ patients who are willing to wait for me!  Often we have a number of extra patients (up to 5 each) added on to the end of morning surger, allocated fairly across us all.  This means that I usually finish seeing patients by 1 pm or later.  I dictate referral letters as I go.  In addition, there are usually half a dozen messages from patients to work through and act on.  I finish these off after surgery, taking me up to 2 pm.

During the morning surgery, our receptionists liaise with the first on call GP and all the home visits are allocated.  We usually get anything from 1-5, depending on the time of the year, and Mondays are usually the worst (unsurprisingly).  So I pick up my notes and drive off to see my housebound or acutely unwell patients who can’t get to the surgery.  Sometimes, as first on call, I am called out on emergencies during my morning or evening surgery and this can create additional pressures.  If I have time I grab a sandwich ‘on the hoof’.

On my return I either go straight into evening surgery (starting at 3.50 pm), or catch up on other paperwork, such as letters received from hospitals about patients, results, professional or patient letters, all of which have been scanned onto our computer.  Often on a Tuesday (having had my last day at work on Thursday) I can have 70 letters to get through, as well as 50-60 results.  Urgent results are obviously seen on the day we receive them, and acted on by the first on call GP or the GP who originated the request.

Evening surgery is 2 hours long, so around 12 patients, followed by more paperwork and messages.  I usually leave the practice at 7.30 to 8 pm.

Wednesdays: follow a similar pattern, but on top of the normal clinical workload I attend any joint meetings about our psychiatric patients with our in-house psychaiatrist Dr Acharrya.

Other duties include supervision and training of our junior doctors and nurses, with occasional tutorials; lunchtime meetings about clinical issues or partnership business. We meet fortnightly in the evening to have formal business meetings, often ending at 10.00 pm.

Thursdays:  I run my drug and alcohol clinic, part of a shared care agreement with the specialist services, and which I have been doing for a number of years.  I have joint surgeries with one of the drug and alcohol nurse specialists once or twice a month.

We ensure that all doctors and nurses receive up to date training and guidance on ever aspect of their role.  This is an ongoing process and requires us to attend external courses and be reaccredited in the many skills we perform.  We hold regular “Educational Evenings” at the practice and run these with hospital consultants and specialist clinicians.  All GPs within our PCT are invited to attend and the turnout is usually high.  These usually commence at 7.30 pm and last all evening.  Fortunately food is provided!