Portsmouth doctors celebrate at first annual ball

Due to an increase in pressure over the last few months due to cuts in budgets and added responsibilities, morale has reportedly been poor among general practitioners.

To encourage smiles back on faces in the workplace, Penny Wilson, a GP at Hayward Road Practice, took it upon herself to organise the first ever GP ball at the Royal Marines Museum in Eastney.

Penny, 39, told The News: ‘I think the event went really well.

‘I’ve had a lot of messages from other GPs and it is just what our community needed.

‘We spend so much time together going to meetings and everyone has been 
so miserable I thought I’d 
do something to boost morale.’

Penny has shared the strain that her colleagues have come under in recent months.

‘Things have changed quite a lot,’ she said.

‘We have a really high workload – it is not just about seeing patients and most of us are working 13 hour days.

‘I’m generally getting into work at 7.30am and going home at 8.30pm. We have to run our own services and then have to have to conduct things such as triages and patients are being discharged from hospital earlier, meaning they come into our care.’

‘We are also having to give acute care and disease management, such as care to those who have diabetes and asthma.’

The event was attended by 93 doctors from the local area who were all dressed in their gladrags.

Given the success of the debut event, it looks likely it will happen every year.

They also raised almost £3,000 for Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to a charity raffle and auction.

Penny added: ‘We have a great team of GPs in Portsmouth and this was a way of celebrating that.

‘In the Royal Navy Museum, it felt really right to celebrate in there given the history of it.

‘I had people asking me on the night if it will become an annual thing, so it looks like it was the inaugural ball.

‘I’m really grateful for everyone who helped out and all our sponsors who put money into the event.’