GPs 'shut down for too long' says Dr Laurence Gerlis

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Dr Laurence Gerlis revealed that he doesn’t think too much of some GPs decisions to temporarily close their private practices due to work overload. Dr Gerlis laid into fellow general practitioners for this growing tendency, saying that they should not cease their activity in order to ensure sick and positive patients can be consulted in case of necessity as many complained about a lack of home care services. GPs are arguably busier than ever before due to a growing request of COVID-19 lateral flow tests and vaccinations but Dr Gerlis, who said that he gets out of bed at 5 am each morning, stressed the importance of staying open even if they feel exhausted.

In an interview with GB News, he said that the stick GPs get on social media is completely justified, admitting that he did not spare them any criticism either.

He said: “I think that was my initial reaction, I’ve been a bit hard on GPs recently.

“I think they shut down for too long, too comprehensively.

“They should have stayed open for patients who were obviously positive for Covid.

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“And they had a lot of criticism.

“You only have to read social media to see how unhappy patients are with GP’s who are the doctors covered in this particular survey.

“I think the medical defence union which is the Insurance company that covers some doctors are starting this fight back.”

He also conceded that the days when doctors played golf because they had too much spare time on their hands are long gone.

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Being a doctor himself, he commiserated with people who feel overwhelmed at work and the wave of stress and sleeping problems that continuously long working hours can bring.

But he urged everybody to show some grit and resilience at a “tough time” like he has done and stay open for face-to-face visits.

The statistic that three doctors out of four dismissed being “too tired” took him by surprise as he thought it apply to most of them.

Mr Gerlis also admitted to currently being in a vicious circle himself, having problems to “get out” of the relentless treadmill waking up early and finishing late.

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He said: “I think it’s fair to say that doctors no longer spend half a day on the golf course, they do work very hard because there’s a huge demand and increasing demand on them and there’s a shortage.

“I am sure this is real and I am surprised it’s only one in four doctors who say they are too tired.

“I thought it would be most of them.

“But it’s part of the job and a lot of people have had a hard time during the pandemic.

“We stayed open, we didn’t stop seeing patients face-to-face, it’ s been a tough time!

“My body is now on the habit of waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning to go through my test results and catch up on the patients of the previous day.

“And I can’t get out of that habit, so my sleep pattern is definitely disturbed.”

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