Make the most of your 10 minutes

Our new resident doctor shares how to get the best from your GP appointment when the clocks ticking

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It’s never easy meeting a new GP for the first time, but I’m excited to be here as your new columnist. Those of you ‘up with the larks’ may have seen me on the BBC red sofa as the  regular GP for BBC Breakfast. I’ve been a GP for over 10 years (in medicine for almost 20), and people often wrongly assume that means I can treat my family or myself. With the loss of over 2,000 full-time equivalent GPs in the past eight years and the average number of consultations per patient doubling, acquiring an appointment with yours can be super-stressful these days – even for me. That’s why making every minute count is essential.