Corona Diaries

Joel

“I was very anxious about returning to practice...our practice as GPs has changed beyond description. The

front door of the surgery remains locked”.

Background information

Male, Aged 55-64, Employed at a Higher Education Institution in Wales, however due to Covid-19 has

returned to practising as a GP, White Welsh, Married to Husband

13th April 2020, 18:37 – First entry

OK

Despite such major changes I am surprised at how normal life feels.

We are incredibly lucky. There are only the 2 of us, our income is secure, we have beautiful places to go for

walks each day, we have a lovely house with a lovely view. I am more focussed on food & shopping and

more stuck in my routine of cleaning the house and doing the washing. We have rented the house next door

so that Ben’s mother can be nearer so that we don’t have to do regular 100-mile round trips to deliver her

food and so that she might not be quite so isolated.

I have returned to practising as a GP. Because of my (main) job as an academic I had decided to stop

practising as a GP. I was very anxious about returning to practice but having done one shortened session I

feel happy to continue. I am very happy that, by being proactive I’ve been able to return to my old practice

in South Wales. How our practice as GPs has changed beyond description. The front door of the surgery

remains locked. 99% of transactions are carried out over the phone with prescriptions being sent to the

pharmacy. The pharmacy next door to our practice seems to be in a state of meltdown and are struggling to

keep up. Many patients have been demanding 3 months’ supply of their regular medication which has the

potential to create artificial shortages.

Changes outside work have included being asked by a policewoman on a horse what was my business being

by the coast when I was out getting shopping for us and for my mother in law.

I am able to get on with my (academic) work which doesn’t feel very different from usual.

My daily walks with the dog are wonderful and really make me appreciate the beautiful place in which we

live.

We had turkey for Easter dinner. I was in Iceland trying to buy chicken thighs. The place had been stripped

bare but they did have some large frozen turkeys so I bought one of those. With stuffing according to my

mother’s recipe it has been very enjoyable. Better get the dinner now.

24th April 2020, 14:25

I am surprised that I am busy at this time. Not off my feet but busy. I’m just back from a surgery back at my

old practice with a reduced number of patients. In fact I had plenty of time and was able to use the IT with no

problem. There were several partners around to ask about things. Essentially there is no dental se rvice at

the moment, so patients are coming to us for antibiotics when they have a dental problem, something we

have been resisting for my entire working life. The regime is that you try 2 lots of antibiotics and if they don’t

get rid of the problem the tooth is extracted. There is no drilling, filling or any other aerosol generating

treatment being done. My own ‘temporary filling’ is now about 5 weeks old but might have to last a lot longer.

I was humbled talking to a civil servant colleague yesterday. She was Zooming from her kids playroom as

this was the quietest room in the house. She is trying to work from home while home-schooling 3 children

aged 8, 5 and 3. I take my hat off to her. I wore my ‘scrubs’ for the 1st time today (well since I was a junior

hospital doc). The V neck is too deep for a man with white chest hair, but I guess vanity comes well down the

list. Had it not been for Coronavirus I would almost certainly have reached retirement without carrying out a

video consultation. Well that is not now the case. Once I had mastered the IT was very straightforward and

the images were very clear. I used it to assess a skin problem and it was easy to treat once seen. I’d heard

bad things about the software, but it is easy to use.

Ben’s mum has been installed into the house next door to ours. It is usually let out as Air BnB but that, clearly,

isn’t happening. I thought I’d pop into Aldi after surgery to get a few things, but when I saw the long queue of

glum-looking people with trolleys I changed my mind. I have a couple of Zoom meetings this afternoon, but

no plans after that. A glass of wine and Gogglebox tonight being Friday. Ben is on duty for the healthboard

so I will be drinking alone.

25th April 2020, 14:47

So today (Saturday) we walked to look at a house that we are interested in. We have a PDF of the details and

it looks promising. Of course, during lockdown, we can’t do much about buying or selling property (we would

have to sell 3 properties). From the outside it looks good, but we have to put it on hold until we are allowed

out of lockdown. Clearly, we wouldn’t be able to go any further until we’d seen the inside of the property.

Everywhere was very quiet. Ben had to get in the socially distanced queue in Tesco, to buy us 2 bottles of

pop. Sitting here, now on our lovely terrace all could be completely normal. I’ve just put a leg of lamb in the

oven because life must go on.

13th May 2020, 16:32

OK

Busy in surgery today. Mostly with non-Covid-19 cases. One patient had problems with his asthma over the

last few weeks despite treatment with steroids and antibiotics (2 courses of both). Dealing with the patient

initially was much more difficult over the phone than it would have been face to face. I had to go on what the

patient told me (that they felt better but not fully recovered). His history included some words in Welsh which

I was (thankfully) able to follow. So, on top of the usual need for a clinical decision there was the lack of the

evidence of an examination and the possibility that his illness was Covid-19-related (less likely). I asked one

of the doctors who will be in surgery in 2 days time to call to check how he is.

I am surprised how busy I am in my academic work. I have a virtual group of students to support. The final

year students have now graduated and gained provisional registration with the GMC. When this initiative was

started it was thought that they would be needed to cope with the massive workload due to Covid-19.

However, the need never reached the predicted peak and is now falling. Further peaks are, of course,

possible. Some students have been placed in mid Wales where usually services have been suspended and

there have been very few Covid-19 cases resulting in the students having very little to do.

I am looking after two third year students who have some online teaching but are under employed. I have

been helping them to get to work on their DPP which is a dissertation which will have to be submitted in

January next year. Having this as near to possible to completion now will help them a lot once they have

to catch up with the clinical work on placement that they are currently missing. Non-work life goes on. I speak

to my brother and sister every Sunday which is far more often than we would usually speak. I enjoy this very

much especially as my brother is recovering from illness and it is great to see him regaining his strength and

confidence week by week. We also had a WhatsApp chat with 2 medical school friends, something we’ve

never done before.

They were talking on the radio this morning about what you miss most during the lock down. Nothing really

springs to mind. Journeys in the car with dog & husband, Going to the café for breakfast at the weekends. I

am not pining for anything.