The coronavirus age in Britain means a trip to your GP is potentially full of danger and disease.

Or at least that is what's feared.

People are worried they will catch the virus if they go outside, or they've already contracted it, and are now concerned about when and if they should seek medical help.

This fear also means they are ignoring niggling, early warning signs about other illnesses unconnected to coronavirus - cancers, early diabetes, and heart disease.

Image: The cold site is for those patients who need medical help but can avoid hospital

"One of the things that worries me at the minute is that there are a lot of people hiding, there are a lot of people hiding away not wanting to come in," Dr Rob White said.


"What we don't want to happen is for cancer diagnosis, for instance, to be missed or delayed unnecessarily because of that COVID fear."

Communities are worried about being a burden on an already over-stretched NHS.

They've seen the images of people fighting for breath on ventilators in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and they're panic stricken about ending up there too. So, GP practices are dramatically changing their way of working.

In Whitstable, Kent, they have set up a two-tier system to try to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

It has meant changing almost everything - from how they see patients, who they see, and what they wear to see them.

Many consultations up and down the UK are now done on the telephone or via smart phone apps.

But there are still people who will need to see their GP.

And these GP practices are themselves on the COVID-19 front line - coping with a frightened community who may have the virus or who may be asymptomatic and are dangerous carriers without knowing it; who definitely need reassurance but who may also need an ambulance called; who may need a fracture x-rayed or a cut stitched.

The Estuary View Medical Centre has been divided into a hot and cold site.

But at both, the health workers have had to take extreme measures to ensure the health and safety of their staff and the patients they need to see and treat.

"Everyone is a potential COVID patient now," one said.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The health workers and a team of volunteers all wear protective clothing to try to shield them from the virus.

It is protective equipment they have sourced, bought and sometimes had donated to them.

Nurse Heidi Edmund climbs into a plastic yellow hooded onesie with her initials scrawled on the back.

On top of this over the sleeves, she puts long, plastic gloves which she stretches up her arm to near her elbow to ensure a seal.

She puts on a hair net, mask and plastic glasses. This is how every patient who suspects they have COVID-19 is greeted.

After making appointments, they drive in to the surgery set up on the car park.

Four huge tents have been set up with four different entry lanes. Each patient is given a mask before they drive into the receiving area.

They don't get out of the vehicle unless they are so poorly they need to be taken straight to a temporary building where oxygen is waiting or a more detailed examination is needed.

Image: Patients don't get out of the vehicle unless they have to

This way contamination is mostly confined to the vehicle.

At each consultation, they are assessed by measuring blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels, breathing and chest examinations.

Every patient they saw whilst we were there almost certainly had COVID-19.

As Dr White frankly told one patient: "You could have COVID and I think you need to consider that and make sure you're isolating… sometimes it can rapidly deteriorate in which case you need to ring 999."

Most of the time these medics are going on instinct. They can't test to confirm so they have to err on the side of caution.

Each patient will be followed up to check for signs of deterioration - and to lend that increasingly important comforting ear to a population all feeling cut off and scared.

After each patient is seen, they wipe down their yellow overalls with disinfectant wipes.

Their gloves and masks are thrown away and they soak their hands in sanitiser whilst every bit of equipment touched or used is wiped down with bleach - the stethoscope, the finger oxygen saturation measure, the box they're laid in.

Nurse Heidi said: "If we're working at full tilt… with a patient coming in every half hour… we could be doing this quite a lot during the day.

"It's a disciplined approach but one which is essential to prevent cross contamination and to save lives."

The cold site is for those patients who need medical help but can avoid hospital.

They are a mini A&E. We saw three fractures in the time we were there.

Everyone who arrives at the cold clinic will be temperature-checked before entering and given a green sticker with their temperature on it so it is clear they have no fever.

Inside the radiographers wear facial visors and plastic aprons, masks and gloves to take the x-rays, the receptionists are behind a plastic shield and the doctors are wearing gloves, plastic visors, masks and gloves.

"It's become the new normal," said paramedic Paul Vigar.

"And it's not likely to go back to the way it was pre-coronavirus anytime soon. I personally anticipate it being like this for many months more."