This is going to hurt…

In the first episode of the new BBC hospital drama, ‘This is Going to Hurt’, Dr Adam Kay remarks, “Welcome to the NHS”. At that moment and with these remarks, he is being darkly ironic, as he is delicately involved in an emergency situation with a woman on the cusp of giving birth.

While the show – based on the real life memoir of the same name – is darkly funny throughout, this is gallows humour; pure and simple. So, despite an urge to laugh in the face of any NHS adversity, the reality is that people’s lives are at risk due to an ongoing raft of imperfect conditions. This week, the chair of the Southwest GP Federation, Dr Paul Bradley, spoke candidly about the problems confronting local services. He said GP practices are ‘vulnerable to collapse’ due to lack of investment and a failure to recruit and retain medical professionals. A knock-on effect of this is an impact on services provided, and also, Dr Bradley remarked that morale among staff is at an ‘all-time low’.

Welcome to the NHS in rural Tyrone. The sad truth is that the writing has been on the waiting room wall for a long time now. Under-investment, Tory austerity and an out-of-the-blue pandemic – these things have all contributed to the pressures within general practice, whether it’s a lack of medical staff or a shortage of appointments to see a GP. Many practices are facing the same vicious circle of problems, although it should be emphasised that it is not a failing on their part

By design, through a lack of funding or an inability to attract medics to this area, the health chiefs are the ones responsible for letting this perfect storm develop.

What must be done?

In short: Everything. General practice in this area needs immediate intervention to stave off a worsening crisis. Either that, or this is going to hurt us all.