Report says GPs across Lincolnshire are struggling to cope with their workload

A third of them reported burnout and depression.

Doctor
Author: Andy MarshPublished 12th Apr 2022

A new report says GPs in Lincolnshire are overstretched with a third reporting burnout and depression.

The research shows staff shortages and many practitioners struggling to cope with workloads.

Dr Kieran Sharrock, a Lincolnshire GP who's also on a local committee that represents 450 GPs in the county will present the findings to a committee at the county council tomorrow.

He told us "With people with mental health problems, there's also long term conditions like heart disease and diabetes that have gone undertreated during the pandemic and we're now dealing with that".

"Hospitals are unable to see patients in a timely fashion, patients who have conditions that need to be managed and that's being done by their GPs."

"The problem is GPs don't feel supported and therefore they're retiring early or going part time because of the negative press we're receiving, the rhetoric the politicians are having that it's all our fault that hospitals are busy really isn't helping and is pushing people away from the profession."

"I hear stories and have personally experienced seeing 80 to a hundred patients in a day, dealing with that many decisions."

"That's two or three times as many as is safe for patients".

"That's not safe for patients but also it isn't safe for clinicians like me because if I make mistakes that's my livelihood on the line - I might lose my licence".

The county's local clinical commissioning group said GP's had made outstanding contributions during the pandemic and said more than 5 million pounds has been invested in recruiting more staff