Abstract Body

Background: UEMO (European Union of General Practitioners) conducts regular surveys into the scope of practice, and workload of General Practitioners/Family Doctors. We were interested in how general practice had responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods: A questionnaire asking about national guidelines, medical advice and GP actions was districuted among the delegations of member nations.

Results: Responses were slow, due to the work pressures of the pandemic, professional obligations of members, and sometimes illness or enforced isolation. Despite the varying health economies in member nations, general practice was remarkably uniform in its response. GPs were agile, swift and innovative in their adaptions to the problems caused by the pandemic. They created "Hot Spots", in which to assess patients who were suspected of having Covid-19. They ensured their practices were "safe spaces" with hygiene measures, PPE and social distancing, and converted many face-to-face appointments into telephone or video consultations. They continued to provide seamless, holistic care to their non-Covid patients, employing e-prescribing and e-certification swiftly and with success. They kept their premises open, while facing an increased overflow demand from secondary care. Many hospital outpatient appointments were cancelled, causing anxious patients to contact their GP for support and help.

GPs were the first contact for, and largely treated, 85-95% of Covid-positive patients.

Conclusions: General practitioners continued to remain open and to treat their patients, despite poor supplies of PPE, inadequate funding and increased workload. They did this at considerable risk to themselves, a fact reflected in their mortality figures, the highest of any speciality. General practice remains the robust base of any cost-effective healthcare service.