Anish K Patel
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anishkpatel.bsky.social
Anish K Patel
@anishkpatel.bsky.social
‘Just a GP’ posting about general practice and healthcare
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It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be a GP. Sitting in a room alone, with patients rotating in and out, tackling a never-ending list—there’s no space to breathe. It can be relentless.

🧵
At lights out my son asked, “Why are you allowed to go on your phone?” The room was quiet. My screen wasn’t. Children copy what we do, not what we say. If I can’t hold the line against the attention economy, how can I expect his developing brain to?

typeshare.co/anishkpatel/...
November 7, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Show me another industry where a contract is agreed, then FAQs and policy footnotes are treated as if binding.

Policy by back door. Welcome to general practice. 😔
November 4, 2025 at 2:50 PM
We now celebrate everything with chocolate: Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, [insert celebration here].

1/3
October 22, 2025 at 6:31 AM
GLP-1 drugs prove, for many people, food behaves like an addictive substance. If that is true, then it is not enough to focus on individuals. As with tobacco, alcohol and gambling, we have to look at the companies engineering and marketing the product. 1/x
October 21, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I gave up on perfect balance. I work in seasons.

Pick the season, lean into it, and stop punishing yourself.

Decide before life decides for you.
October 17, 2025 at 11:11 AM
You know something has gone badly wrong when your kids’ state primary school starts asking parents for donations.

What’s next? McDonald’s sponsoring rulers, Amazon logos on the jumpers, or Tesco buying the naming rights to the school?
October 16, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Have you ever been on a train where a real person announces the stops, says Charlie in carriage 3 is celebrating his sixth birthday and asks everyone to sing, then throws in a random fact about the next station?

1/6
October 15, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I speak to retired GPs and the pattern is obvious. They miss the patients, not the job. Not the grind, the tick boxes, or holding a service together on a shoestring.

Most stayed as long as they could, then hit eject for their own sanity. There is a warning here for all of us.
October 14, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I speak with GPs nationwide. Two camps keep coming up:

1) recruit more GPs

2) grow the wider team and protect GP time for complex care.

Which camp are you in?
October 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Oct 1 contract changes: online REQUESTS not online BOOKING. Gov says one thing, media go off and writes what they want.

When headlines promise booking, GPs get the heat, patients feel misled, and the bar for Wes jumps higher than he intended. 😬
October 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Everyone thinks they are on the side of good.
July 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Doing docs the other day. So many letters addressed to GPs that have not worked at my practice for 10+ years.

Would this be accepted in any other profession? 🤔
June 13, 2025 at 1:39 PM
NHS Trust CEOs aren’t rewarded for collaboration.
They’re rewarded for control.

Bigger budget = bigger band = bigger pay.

Even if that means holding on when they should let go.

1/3
May 16, 2025 at 10:45 AM
I spoke with someone from the voluntary sector while at an ICB event this week. He saw firsthand the gaps in our health and social fabric.

I explained how GP practices in poorer areas actually receive less funding than those in richer ones. His eyes widened. 😳He had no idea.
May 15, 2025 at 1:45 PM
We talk a lot about what’s going wrong in the NHS. What’s broken. What’s missing.

That’s fair. There’s plenty.

But the danger is we only ever feel the climb.

1/3
May 9, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Everyone keeps saying better data will fix the NHS. But after years digging into triage and call stats across practices, I’ve realised the opposite is often true.

What gets measured gets misunderstood.

1/3
May 8, 2025 at 12:39 PM
To the Patient I Had to Turn Away 🧵

I see you on my triage list, staring at me.

I see the worry etched across your words. I see the fear.

But I also hear the others calling out just as loudly.
May 2, 2025 at 7:06 AM
It should be the most meaningful job in the world.

You help people when they’re scared, broken, or lost.

But instead of feeling fulfilled, you feel empty.

This is what burnout in the NHS really feels like.

And it’s not just happening.

It’s being designed into the system.
April 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Don't hold back Doncaster LMC:

"The latest changes to the GP contract for 2025/26, as outlined by the BMA, are yet another disappointment for general practice.”

www.doncasterlmc.co.uk/the-2025-26-...
The 2025/26 GP Contract: Another Blow to General Practice – Doncaster LMC
The latest changes to the GP contract for 2025/26, as outlined by the BMA, are yet another disappointment for general practice.
www.doncasterlmc.co.uk
February 28, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Trying something new – creating YouTube videos. Turns out talking to a camera is way harder than it looks, but I’m giving it a go. First up: how NHS GP funding is rigged against poorer areas. Let’s see how this goes… 🎥👇

youtu.be/D-oXS45gIbA
Richer Areas Get MORE Funding – Why It Matters & How It Happened
YouTube video by Dr Anish K Patel
youtu.be
February 16, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Safety First: The Case for 1 GP per 1,000 Patients

GP numbers have not kept up with demand. But what would it take to fix this?

The BMA’s "gold standard" for safe general practice is 1 full-time GP per 1,000 patients. Ambitious? Yes. Impossible? Let’s break it down. 🧵
February 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
In the age of AI, PCSE can't get a form working on their online portal 🙃

God help us!
February 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
We had a good run on here but the bot accounts have arrived 😔

My block button getting a work out 🏋️
February 4, 2025 at 8:58 AM
I was in full flow during a patient participation meeting, explaining how we’re making the government aware of the crisis in general practice by stopping FREE (unfunded) work.

Then a patient stopped me and asked: “What can we do to get you more funding?”

🧵
February 4, 2025 at 8:55 AM
“Just a GP” – a phrase once wielded to belittle, now one I use with pride in my bio. The debate about the GP title continues. Does it still work? Is it holding us back?

🧵
January 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM