COVID Frontline 1 - Dr Peter Saul of Beech Avenue Practice, Rhos

So the last couple of weeks have been busy and things are set to get even busier in primary care and elsewhere in our health system.

Up till now the focus has been on getting things ready.

This means working out systems to see potentially infected patients and of course making sure that we have the capacity to see people with the regular sorts of conditions GPs have to deal with.

Like most practices, mine is in virtual lockdown.

All our initial contacts with patients are by phone, but there are lots of things that we can deal with this way.

It’s amazing to think of how we used to bring up people to be seen at the surgery when in actual fact there are so many things that can be done remotely.

We’re setting up the capacity to do consultations by email and if necessary by using video software.

I expect this to become more generally available in the next week or two, and it looks like the doctor may soon be appearing on your smartphone!

Patients are engaging well with these changes and helping us to help them.

There have been some hiccups and medication is perhaps the one that causes me most stress.

Some patients have been asking for more than their usual supply which, like stocking up with toilet rolls, may sound like a good idea - the problem is that it disrupts the supply for everybody else and causes shortages.

Another issue is that a lot of patients with chronic but fairly mild chest problems, like asthma and COPD, have been ringing up asking for “rescue packs”.

These are packs of steroids and antibiotics which are given when patients develop a chest infection. There are a couple of problems with giving them out willy-nilly.

The first is that they’re given as part of a management plan for the patient so that they know exactly when and how to use them and when they’ve had their inhaler treatment optimised, the second is that there is a concern that giving steroids by mouth to patients with Covid may increase the likelihood of pneumonia developing.

So please, if you’ve not had a rescue pack previously, don’t ask for one at the present time.

Pharmacies are also under incredible stress at this time.

It may take longer to turn round repeat prescriptions and some drugs may need to be substituted if there is the shortage.

Please be kind to my pharmacy colleagues - they are working their socks off.

I’ve diagnosed a few COVID cases by phone and yesterday we had to send somebody more seriously ill to hospital.

Scary stuff, so we’re stepping up bio-security at the practice and I’m pleased to say we’ve been promised more protective equipment.

Now, what the health service needs from the public is to maintain social distancing.

Try and help people who can’t get out and stay away from health services unless you really need us.

I hope that this will be the first of a series of updates to let you know what’s going on in the front line.