How I treated my NHS patients from the attic during self-isolation – Gill Towler

I SPENT last week living in the attic of our house away from the rest of the family. Not to get some peace, but because I had to self- isolate due to a cough.
Dr Gill Towler has returned to work after a period of self-isolation.Dr Gill Towler has returned to work after a period of self-isolation.
Dr Gill Towler has returned to work after a period of self-isolation.
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Many of us will be in this situation over the coming weeks and months, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of my thoughts around the experience.

To set the scene: 10 days ago I started with a runny nose and sore throat, then developed a tickly cough and headache a couple of days later.

GP surgeries are having to adopt in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.GP surgeries are having to adopt in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
GP surgeries are having to adopt in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
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Normally I would have taken a couple of paracetamol and carried on as normal, but mindful of the advice we are giving to our patients, I went on the NHS 111 coronavirus website and followed through the symptoms checker.

The advice was I needed to self-isolate at home for seven days, and my family would have to stay at home for 14 days in case they got symptoms.

So what did I do?

I needed to keep away from my family as much as possible to avoid passing any infection on to them.

Lydia Hardwick aged 11 with her brother Daniel aged 8, support the NHS by painting their window through the coronavirus outbreak at Oulton, Leeds.Lydia Hardwick aged 11 with her brother Daniel aged 8, support the NHS by painting their window through the coronavirus outbreak at Oulton, Leeds.
Lydia Hardwick aged 11 with her brother Daniel aged 8, support the NHS by painting their window through the coronavirus outbreak at Oulton, Leeds.

Luckily no-one in our household is at extremely high risk from coronavirus, but nevertheless I wanted to do everything I could to protect them from catching anything.

So I decided to go and live in our attic for a week.

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It has two little rooms, one is a spare bedroom, the other full of old dolls houses, toys, clothes etc, but it worked very well as a little office, so I could carry on doing my day-to-day GP work remotely, by telephone and computer.

Thanks to our fantastic digital systems here at Haxby Group, I was able to check results and letters, speak to patients, do prescriptions, participate in meetings and almost all of the other normal day-to-day work of a GP.

It was very strange living apart from the rest of the family, having my meals separately, and wiping down all the surfaces repeatedly to stop germs spreading.

The worst bit was trying to stay two metres away from everyone, including my children who, at 11 and 13, still like to have hugs when they are in the mood!

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My brilliant husband took on all the home schooling and house work, so I was free to concentrate on the important job of helping our practice team to set up all the services we need to carry on providing safe care for our patients, and support for our staff team, through the Coronavirus pandemic.

I hadn’t thought I would be doing this from our attic though.

The highlight of the week was last Thursday night when all the neighbours in our little village came out and did the clap for carers.

I felt quite emotional popping my head out of the attic window to see them in their gardens or leaning out of their windows, clapping for the NHS. My thoughts were with the teams who are working right at the frontline to care for patients and families at this difficult time.

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So luckily for me, I didn’t get any fever or other symptoms, and after a week, I was able to come out and re-join the family. Lots of hugs all round!

I am now back at work, the rest of them are in household isolation until the end of the week, and are very much looking forward to being able to get out for a little walk everyday, whilst of course sticking to social distancing rules.

So, my top tips to help if you are self-isolating are:

You can work from home if you are able and well enough to do so;

Try and find fun and relaxing things to do to pass the time. Communicate with friends and relatives as much as you can, even from a distance – we did a hilarious online quiz together, from separate room;

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Remember to let any delivery suppliers know in advance that you are self-isolating – they can leave packages at the door.

And finally, when the self-isolation is over, keep on taking care of yourself and your loved ones, as we all work together to stay safe.

Dr Gill Towler is a GP. She has just returned to Haxby Group’s surgery in York after spending seven days living and working in her attic.

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