Returners to the rescue

It was clear from the onset of COVID-19 that for the NHS to successfully manage the pandemic, reinforcements would be required.

More than 15,000 retired GPs from across the UK answered the call to return to the workforce to help with the pandemic response. They received temporary registration from the General Medical Council and were reinstated on the Medical Performers List. Amy Boreham caught up with two retired GPs about their different contributions to the pandemic effort.

Jo's story

Dr Jo Buchanan, from Sheffield, had been retired from general practice for 18 months when in early March, she received an email asking if she was prepared to return to the workforce.

Jo successfully secured a clinical advisory role, assessing and supporting triaged patients with potential symptoms of coronavirus at an NHS 111 clinical assessment service, established by South Central Ambulance Service Foundation Trust on behalf of NHS England. She said: “I didn’t have the time to be nervous. This was a new virus, and initially there was limited information available, I knew I had to do some research.”

After setting up regular COVID-19 study meetings with fellow returning GPs on Zoom, Jo was on the remote frontline during the height of the pandemic. “I enjoyed exercising my clinical skills again and speaking with patients, it was also interesting to get a detailed overview of the intricacies of the NHS 111 service, although I missed the continuity of care that comes with working in general practice,” she reflects.

Although Jo has no plans to return permanently to the workforce, she has been on a reserve list for the COVID Clinical Assessment Service and is now preparing to return to help with the current upsurge in demand. She has also resumed her volunteer work for asylum seeker charity Freedom from Torture as a medical report writer.

Jo describes her unexpected return to the workforce as ‘a privilege’. "I am extremely grateful to the NHS for creating safe and suitable ways for retired GPs to aid the pandemic efforts, and for creating a selection of roles that ensure all skill sets can be directed to provide the greatest benefit," she said.

Anita's story

Dr Anita Campbell, a retired GP from Yorkshire was drafted into Practitioner Health, the NHS the mental wellbeing across the UK.

With strong coaching skills and experience of working for local GP mentor programmes, Anita decided her skill set would be best suited to providing essential peer support to frontline GPs and other healthcare professionals, particularly with the new and intense pressures resulting from COVID.

Post-pandemic, Anita is going to continue her work at Practitioner Health, in anticipation of a significant increase in healthcare professionals requiring the service. She believes that the training and coping mechanisms GPs have used during the pandemic are short-term, and that many GPs will want to revisit and properly address the challenges and difficult circumstances they have recently encountered.

"Supporting colleagues throughout the pandemic has been exceptionally important work and is still ongoing. Many GPs will want to reflect and learn both personally and professionally.

"I am grateful to the NHS for acknowledging that not everyone will have been able to provide a clinical contribution to the pandemic, and for creating safe alternative opportunities,” says Anita. 