Taking Society's Pulse
Nov 08, 2023, 01:11 PM
Kate Cabot, GP partner at a six partner practice in Acton, West London, discusses how her practice introduced new tools for treating patients:
The European not to take note. So we've got back. We're all talking about it, but it was only really when Trish Greenhalgh did a really good article in the BMJ on the 3rd of April about. What's happening here? Let's start wearing masks, because you need to be, you know, take precautions. What's wrong with the precautionary principle? And we started then wearing masks for or if, if we could find some to, to see patients. And we also that coincided with beginning to realise that people were getting ill and some of them were not telling the truth unfortunately because they wanted to get seen. I'd had one or two scary ones where we hadn't got to the stage of wearing masks with all consultations, and someone would sit down and say, take their temperature. They got a temperature, they got a cough and you suddenly jumping back, saying, hang on a minute. You didn't say you had a temperature to the staff.
And then, you know, then we realised we had to completely reconfigure. We're gonna have to full telephone triage. The staff because at first they were just asking all those questions about have you been to those hill towns in Italy? It was all pretty rubbishy because we were already realising that it wasn't just people from hill towns in Italy, who are all these funny little bits and pieces round them up. You had to actually start suspecting anyone coming in, with the temperature and a cough that they might have covid. So we then had to put up our. You know, full telephone triage for all patients who wanted to be seen and trying to start getting hold of a bit, few more masks and then, you know, going and buying screw fix eye visors from the DIY shop. Getting some old plastic nurses aprons out of their store cupboards and just trying to cobble together our own and get some rubber gloves and things we just still had so that we will then begin to protect ourselves. And that's, that's the sort.
And there’s this thing about actually just realising that if you wanna, we've gotta take precautions. So we're gonna have to start really wearing masks all the time to see all the patients. And I remember doing a visit when we were beginning to. Well, when you go and see someone who's got a cough, get them to wear a mask, get them to wear a mask as well. And that was. I can remember this very memorable visit, unfortunately this woman eventually, after many months, seemed to die of COVID in, though that time I don't know if she had Covid or not. She had a terrible chest and the chance COPD and I had to go visit her at home. But you know, I very much remember standing on her front door step feeling very self-conscious in a plastic apron, mask. And I said to the daughter, she'll need to put a mask on if I'm going to examine her chest. And that was kind of way before it became normal practice and then we just started getting into this sort of rhythm of being much more protective about everything.
And that's when I actually did write to Martin Marshall because I heard him on the on the radio or something saying, well, at this moment, we don't think that mask is going to be needed. So my logic was well if we were wearing masks, asking patients to wear masks. What? Why are we not saying everyone to start wearing masks? Because what's the point? You know, we do. There must be some kind of reason for wearing masks and why are we not now saying everyone should be wearing masks? Certainly in general practice, in hospitals and why, why not wear masks on public transport ?
And at that stage there was this enormous establishments of denial that there was any point in wearing masks or people wouldn't wear masks or really use up all the masks? And it was interesting. I checked we didn't start. I think it didn't become mandatory to wear masks and public transport , TfL until the end of July. And all that time, you'd have people. Cooped up together.
The European not to take note. So we've got back. We're all talking about it, but it was only really when Trish Greenhalgh did a really good article in the BMJ on the 3rd of April about. What's happening here? Let's start wearing masks, because you need to be, you know, take precautions. What's wrong with the precautionary principle? And we started then wearing masks for or if, if we could find some to, to see patients. And we also that coincided with beginning to realise that people were getting ill and some of them were not telling the truth unfortunately because they wanted to get seen. I'd had one or two scary ones where we hadn't got to the stage of wearing masks with all consultations, and someone would sit down and say, take their temperature. They got a temperature, they got a cough and you suddenly jumping back, saying, hang on a minute. You didn't say you had a temperature to the staff.
And then, you know, then we realised we had to completely reconfigure. We're gonna have to full telephone triage. The staff because at first they were just asking all those questions about have you been to those hill towns in Italy? It was all pretty rubbishy because we were already realising that it wasn't just people from hill towns in Italy, who are all these funny little bits and pieces round them up. You had to actually start suspecting anyone coming in, with the temperature and a cough that they might have covid. So we then had to put up our. You know, full telephone triage for all patients who wanted to be seen and trying to start getting hold of a bit, few more masks and then, you know, going and buying screw fix eye visors from the DIY shop. Getting some old plastic nurses aprons out of their store cupboards and just trying to cobble together our own and get some rubber gloves and things we just still had so that we will then begin to protect ourselves. And that's, that's the sort.
And there’s this thing about actually just realising that if you wanna, we've gotta take precautions. So we're gonna have to start really wearing masks all the time to see all the patients. And I remember doing a visit when we were beginning to. Well, when you go and see someone who's got a cough, get them to wear a mask, get them to wear a mask as well. And that was. I can remember this very memorable visit, unfortunately this woman eventually, after many months, seemed to die of COVID in, though that time I don't know if she had Covid or not. She had a terrible chest and the chance COPD and I had to go visit her at home. But you know, I very much remember standing on her front door step feeling very self-conscious in a plastic apron, mask. And I said to the daughter, she'll need to put a mask on if I'm going to examine her chest. And that was kind of way before it became normal practice and then we just started getting into this sort of rhythm of being much more protective about everything.
And that's when I actually did write to Martin Marshall because I heard him on the on the radio or something saying, well, at this moment, we don't think that mask is going to be needed. So my logic was well if we were wearing masks, asking patients to wear masks. What? Why are we not saying everyone to start wearing masks? Because what's the point? You know, we do. There must be some kind of reason for wearing masks and why are we not now saying everyone should be wearing masks? Certainly in general practice, in hospitals and why, why not wear masks on public transport ?
And at that stage there was this enormous establishments of denial that there was any point in wearing masks or people wouldn't wear masks or really use up all the masks? And it was interesting. I checked we didn't start. I think it didn't become mandatory to wear masks and public transport , TfL until the end of July. And all that time, you'd have people. Cooped up together.