Okehampton Medical Centre is facing ‘unprecedented’ demand for its services in the face of soaring rates of winter bugs, a senior partner reports.

Dr Emma Sircar said that the national picture was reflected at the surgery, but that they were ‘coping well’ and still managing to see those who needed urgent care on the day requested.

The practice was also trying to source locum support where it could. Some of this is local and some is virtual. It is also trying to recruit more GPs.

Dr Sircar, who is clinical lead for the North Dartmoor group of GP practices, said this winter was definitely proving more challenging than previous years.

‘The demand is across the board and is much more than we experience every year. Demand has gone up, year on year.

‘This year, we have got more respiratory illnesses, more flu and Strep A, lots of sore throats; all of those things have made for a far higher demand in primary and secondary care.

‘It is not just here, it is everywhere. Because we have an amazing team we are coping, but it would be nice for our community to understand the pressures and be understanding. We do see anything that needs to be seen urgently. Things that need to be dealt with on the day are dealt with on the day.

She added: ‘There is a lot of staff illness as well, because we are not immune to it, we are people too. It is hard, the pressure is enormous, but we are managing. Who can say what will tip the scales?

'It is going to be a stressful winter and it is important for people to understand that demand is high. We do listen to people and we are constantly trying to improve.’

Practices, including Okehampton, have come in for criticism using a triage system, in the face of growing demand for limited appointments, to prioritise which patients need to be seen on the same day by a clinician.

As well as GPs, the staff at Okehampton Medical Centre includes paramedics, prescribing nurses, nurse practitioners and physician associates. There are also mental health practitioners, a dietician and a counselling service.

‘I think it is important that people understand the triage system. It doesn’t have to be a GP you see,’ said Dr Sircar. ‘The patient service advisors who answer the phone will take details, they will be happy to give details you can happy to give to the same day team.’

It is the same story in Tavistock, where doctors are seeing patients after the first Christmas for three years which saw people mixing freely, a Tavistock practice manager has confirmed.

Darren Newland, practice manager at Abbey Surgery, said people were coming to the surgery suffering from flu and covid and chesty coughs and other respiratory ailments.

‘Every single GP practice is under pressure. We are inundated and there are quite a lot of practices in the western part of Devon, which are just as busy,’ he said.‘We are just about coping but we have never been as busy as this.’

Demand is also high at the other Tavistock GP practice, Tavyside Health Centre.