The patient in front of me is five minutes late for her 10-minute appointment. As she sits down she tells me she is feeling suicidal, as her father has just been diagnosed with cancer and she is about to be evicted from her flat for non-payment of rent. It is 9.05am on a Monday and the waiting room is already standing room only. This is a slightly extreme scenario, but it does happen. Whenever general practice is discussed in news reports, the main complaint seems to be that people cannot get appointments with their GP. There are many reasons for this. Chronic underfunding, combined with ever-increasing unfunded work being dumped on us are two major reasons why it is harder to see your family doctor. Another important reason, which the media seems to pay scant attention to, is the misuse of the system by patients themselves.
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