16/01/2022
On behalf of my fellow GPs in Australia, I want to send a critical message to those who book face-to-face appointments with their doctors:
It is NEVER acceptable to lie when being screened by reception staff to secure an appointment with your doctor.
It is NEVER acceptable to deny that you have symptoms of a respiratory illness when we are in the midsts of a massive wave of viral spread.
It is NEVER acceptable to remove your mask in a consultation room because it’s bothersome or, worse still, because you want to cough unencumbered.
It is NEVER acceptable to put your GP’s health at risk in this way.
Many of my colleagues in the profession have increasingly faced these exact scenarios as case numbers have soared.
Some of my colleagues have subsequently tested positive to COVID-19 as a consequence of these encounters.
What most people don’t realise is that the overwhelming majority of consultant GP’s work as sole traders within their practices.
This means they do not receive employer contributions into their superannuation, or paid annual leave, or paid carer leave or paid sick leave.
This means when your GP catches COVID-19 from a patient who did not declare they were unwell during screening, that you’re not only exposing them to the real risks of symptomatic disease, but that they’ll be enduring this at home without the same sick leave entitlements that many Australian workers enjoy.
We are human too.
We have families too.
We have underlying comorbidities too.
And so many of my colleagues are so incredibly burnt out that they are practically crispy.
Please keep that in mind the next time you’re asked to declare symptoms when you’ve booked an appointment to see one of my colleagues.
- Sara
