Doctors face abuse for asking people to wear face masks in practices
It's still being compulsory to wear them in medical settings
GPs in the North West say they're facing abuse for challenging people who won't wear a face covering in their practices.
Face coverings are still compulsory in medical settings, despite the easing of rules last month.
But the British Medical Association's worried about the increasing number of patients refusing to wear them.
Peter Higgins heads up the Consortium of Lancashire and Cumbria Local Medical Committees, he said GPs have faced huge pressure over the last 18 months: "We're seeing more patients than ever. I think the number of GP appointments, whether they be face to face or on the telephone or video consultations, are round about 30% higher than they were before covid.
"Over the last 18 months the sheer pressure that GPs and practise nurses and the other teams have been under has led to some questioning do I want to continue doing this when the pandemic is over.
"GPs have been working even harder during the pandemic as we are hopefully coming out of the worst phase of it, GPs are on their knees."