A (WORKING) DAY IN THE LIFE OF DR WILLIAMS!
5.45amAlarm again! Wake my 3 children who, like me, don’t want to get up... get them dressed and feed the chickens whilst my husband walks the dog. Make them breakfast (that’s the children, not the chickens) and check the school bags whilst grabbing a quick breakfast for myself and then get dressed.
6.50amChaos descends as I supervise a screaming argument between my two daughters - mothers have great negotiating skills!! - and then my 3 yr old son spills milk all over my top, so I nip upstairs to change again! I say goodbye to my husband who is taking the children to school and nursery and head off.
7.20amArrive just before morning surgery starts. What I love about General Practice is that any problem, physical or emotional, can step through the door and you have just ten minutes to do your best for that patient. Today, there is a wide variety of issues including some very serious and urgent problems. I usually run late because of this, but most patients are very understanding! We have some lovely patients and the morning passes quickly. Between patients, I answer requests for home visits, telephone calls for urgent advice and queries from the hospital. I am also vomited on by a little boy with an earache, and a baby wees on me during his health check so I am smelling a little less than pleasant now!
10.30amEnd of morning surgery – I am running late due to the complex problems we have had today. I dictate some referral letters, and go through my blood test results. My registrar (trainee GP) comes in and I discuss her morning surgery and provide some teaching.
10.45amI start on our large pile of prescriptions. There are usually around 200 a day, and each repeat request must be individually checked and actioned on the patient’s notes. One of our lovely receptionists pops in with some more paperwork and some queries,but also brings me some strong coffee and a biscuit – the biscuits always help me get through the day!!
11.30amI meet up with the other doctors, lead nurse and managers for our weekly Practice meeting. We discuss problems within the practice, including any complaints received from patients, significant events, and management issues which can include anything from surgery opening times to the provision of equipment. This is important to make sure all doctors are aware of complaints or issues that matter to patients.
12.30pmI have 2 visits and an appointment at the crematorium to examine one of our patients who sadly died, in order that I can authorise a cremation form.
1.45pmI would normally run a lunchtime clinic to fit contraceptive implants, but today I am attending a Child Protection meeting at Pinderfields hospitalin my role as lead GP for Child Protection. It is an important and necessary part of the job, but very challenging. I eat a sandwich in the car on the way back to surgery.
3pmAfternoon surgery. It is always a privilege that patients trust us to try and help them at the times of crisis in their lives, and this afternoon I see two patients that are suicidal and another whose husband has sadly died. I see patients with highblood pressure,lung cancer, a nasty rash and a bowel problem amongst others. My registrar pops in for advice, and between patients I take some more urgent telephone calls - but I am now running late again and the afternoon has flown by!
6pmI discuss some patients with my registrar and finish the remaining prescriptions, sign my referral letters and finish more paperwork including the large pile of hospital letters that come every day in the post – time for another coffee!
6.30pmEmma the receptionist is knocking on the door wanting to lock the surgery up, so I leave a pile of work to finish in the morning and head off home.
7.15pmI arrive home; the dog is the most excited out of everyone to see me! My 3 yr old is already asleep, so I read my 6 yr old a bedtime story and kiss her goodnight. I try to help my oldest daughter with her homework but, embarrassingly, I do not understand it – do other parents have this problem?!
8.15pmStart cooking dinner whilst chatting to my husband – we try not to talk about medicine at home so I try to teach him how to use the oven instead...
9.15pmTurn on the computerand check some outstanding tasks that didn’t get done today. I prepare for a tutorial for our registrars tomorrow, and I prepare some notes from my Child Protection meeting today to be able to pass onto the other GPs. Stick some washing on and close the chicken coop – they look nice and cosy in there and makes me think of heading to bed!
10.30pmJust time to catch up with some favourite TV – but a battle with my husband over who gets the remote control!
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