I have just seen an official circular from a large group medical practice in Manchester, formally announcing that, because of winter pressures, the Covid pandemic, and the designation of Manchester as a high-risk zone, they will now be dealing only with “urgent” cases, nothing of a “routine” nature. If we have Covid symptoms we are instructed to get a test, but the surgery is unable to arrange it; “minor ailments” are to be taken to a pharmacist, or “please implement self-care where appropriate”.
What is not made clear is how a patient is to know if a symptom is “minor” (if a tickly cough, for example, is a lung cancer), or how a patient is to know when self-care is “appropriate”.
There you have it: non-healthcare made official and explicit. The virus is proving to be breathtaking in more ways than one. Can we have our money back?
Philip Barber
Consultant respiratory physician, Manchester
