Ivy Grove Surgery made headlines recently for writing an open letter to its patients after being deluged by their demands during the pandemic.

Based in the UK, it said patients were expecting to receive “instant healthcare” in the same way as “instant movies”, “instant food” and “instant gratification”.

But the letter goes on to detail issues that GPs everywhere will recognise, including “the list” and the fact that GPs, in the minds of many, have become the go-to fix for “literally everything in society”. 

“It includes being a proxy parent, a teacher, a social worker, a counsellor, a priest, a marriage guidance advisor, a pharmacist, a housing and heating advocate, a public health physician, an employment advisor, dangerous sports authoriser, a gambling monitor, cycling promotor…”