"On a knife-edge": GPs in the East Midlands warn of abuse and burnout
People tell them they are not working hard enough
Campaigners are warning there is a crisis facing GP surgeries in the East Midlands and across the country - with overworked doctors trying to tackle a backlog of patients caused by the pandemic.
Figures show more appointments were carried out in August than the same period before the pandemic - but despite this GPs are increasingly being targeted with abuse - by people claiming they're not working hard enough.
There's also a shortage - with nearly 2,000 fewer GPs across the country today than five years ago.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tells us it's vital trainee medics are encouraged to consider it as a career path.
"We do desperately need more GPs in London and across the country, we want them to be valued by members of our society," he says. "And I'd encourage anyone who's thinking about a career in medicine, to think about a career as a GP."
In a briefing, campaign group Every Doctor has expressed concern that "inflammatory" rhetoric about access to GP services was leading to "abuse" of staff.
It pointed to data from the 2021 GP patient survey which showed that 83% of patients in England would describe their experience of their practice as "good".
The survey of around 850,000 patients across England also found 82% said they were "satisfied" with the appointment they were offered - up from 73% the year before.
"In terms of patients being satisfied with the type of appointment they're offered by their GP, this is actually increased from 74% in August 2018, to 82% now," Dr Patterson said.
She said that she had not heard of a single GP surgery which had closed its doors to patients.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are committed to supporting GP teams to improve access to face-to-face appointments and have invested to expand capacity, on top of £1.5 billion to the sector until 2023/24 to deliver world-class care to patients."