What is your experience of GP within the BLack Country

OK, tell me, what is your experience about accessing your GP in the black country? Well, I have quite an interesting perspective because I don't actually access, uh, a GP in the black country area. My GP would be in Birmingham, which is where I live. Uh, but on a professional basis, I support other people to go to the GP. So, uh, my experience of GPS in the black country is more to do with, um, helping other people

Uh, and that means that sometimes my involvement is having to prompt somebody or tell somebody Maybe you should ask the to this question. Or maybe you should ask the doctor that question that can be based around medication or it can be based around mental health issues. So that's really my involvement with GPS in the black country area

It's more on a professional level rather than a personal level. So tell me more about that. So do you actually go in to see the GP with the patient or those who you are supporting? Oh, yes

100%. My my role, uh, can sometimes be that I, uh I have somebody that I support, and they've told me that they have, uh, a health condition that they're uncertain of, Say, for example, flu or cold, or, um, they have a mental health issue, which is something they want to talk to a doctor about. And, uh, my role would be to support them to get from their home to the GP to have that conversation

But, um, my role isn't to have that conversation for that person. They still have, uh, independent thoughts, and they still have the right that they need to ask those questions. But sometimes mental health means that they're unable to tell the doctor what they're really thinking

So sometimes my role can be to prompt and to guide and advice where needed to. If you were to summarise all that you have said and to send a message to the NHS with dealing with the people that you are supporting, what message would you give to them? In a summary, uh, I, I would say patience is, uh, a really good uh uh uh, characteristic to have. And what? What I mean by patience is, uh, the fact that sometimes some doctors they don't recognise that there is, uh, a mental health concern

So when somebody is having anxiety, it might be the case of that. They might be uncertain about how to approach a doctor, and sometimes a doctor can seem like a very scary person. Uh uh, especially to somebody that has anxiety or depression

Um, and, uh, that level of awareness, uh, from a GP or a nurse or a doctor, um can help to judge how they approach that person. And if they approach that person in the right way, uh, that person is likely to have the, uh, medical attention and support that they need to, uh, guide them through what they're going through.