Life

The GP's View: Doctors' home visits are a vital lifeline

Doctors who support eliminating home visits have lost sight of what being a GP is all about
Doctors who support eliminating home visits have lost sight of what being a GP is all about Doctors who support eliminating home visits have lost sight of what being a GP is all about

I AM filled with concern that my colleagues in general practice have voted to abandon home visits – and a recent experience emphasised my misgivings.

Last weekend my 93-year-old neighbour with poor vision fell over in her bathroom at 5am – at the time I was away. She felt bruised and it hurt to breathe, and knowing she would have little joy from her GP she dialled 111, and paramedics eventually arrived.

At hospital she had to wait in the ambulance for two hours as A&E was so busy. After she was finally given a chest X-ray, which appeared normal, she was told to go home. But how? The ambulance service does not provide a return service and she cannot drive. Eventually she was taken home by a kind neighbour.

I saw her three days later – her symptoms had not subsided and I immediately identified her pain as being due to a cracked rib. These are rarely visible on X-rays but often patients are relieved to have a diagnosis.

How much better if she had been able to stay at home, assessed by her own doctor? The ambulance and visit to A&E were resources squandered.

Doctors who say eliminating home visits is the way forward have lost sight of what being a GP is all about.

© Solo dmg media