Following the tragic death of a dedicated and much-loved GP, Dr Gail Milligan, DAUK urged that action is needed to address the uncapped workload and workforce crisis in the medical profession.
The Doctors’ Association UK said: “We need to hear more voices countering the abuse GPs face and calling out the false media reports about our workload and hours. These reckless reports not only affect our morale, but our reputation and our relationships with patients.”
Dr Ellen Welch, GP and DAUK co-chair said: “The relentless misrepresentation of GP’s being lazy part-timers is grinding down an entire profession – when the reality for most is 12+ hour days, juggling the clinical work alongside mountains of unseen extra tasks.”
Dr Liz Croton, GP with DAUK and NHS Practitioner Health said: “Our GPs have experienced a sustained and personalised attack from many outlets of the media over the last few years. This is hugely damaging to the physical and mental health of our workforce and indeed we are seeing this with the number of our colleagues reporting mental distress as a result of their work.” She said there was urgent action needed to tackle this “misinformation” at a national level, and emphasised “enough is enough”.
Dr Lizzie Toberty, GP lead with DAUK explained: “We either address this by actually listening to frontline staff and acting urgently on their concerns, or we will continue to witness these tragic events. Ultimately doctors are human beings who have limits.”
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