No response from GP at all

GPs who are permanent partners in a practice have around 2100 patients for whom they are directly responsible.

When we are going through the death of someone we love we feel as though it is happening just to us, whereas the truth is the GP will have been dealing with many patients with terminal illnesses and bereavements as well as new cancer diagnoses and more routine matters,

A large number of GPS have quit permanent practice because the workload and expectations are unsustainable. Many of them are now locums or have gone part-time because they can control the workload and the number of patients they deal with.

I think maybe your GP has decided to do this and your family was not one of the cases that she elected to retain. Have you asked if she is still your GP or whether you have been reallocated?

I remember when my father died during the night at home and I phoned later in the day to ask for the death certificate.
I was met with, Oh is he dead? Never heard another word after that.

My mother loathed that particular GP, when she had been senior sister in the local maternity hospital and they sometimes had to call on him for support. He continued to behave true to form. A horrible, pompous man.

I had contact with my GP the week after my husband passed away. However I got the feeling that this was only to sound me out because he had been rushed to hospital with pneumonia caused by an underlying lung tumour and our GP had visited 3 times in the couple of weeks beforehand and pronounced his chest clear despite him complaining of shortness of breath. No faith in GPs any more.

I'm sure that GPs don't usually make contact - they never have with me.

My mother had an excellent (lady) GP, who was happy to visit her at home when too sick to travel to the surgery and who then also came to see her in respite care. Whilst staying at my Mum's house still on my own during this period and some 200 miles away from my own family, she telephoned me to see how things were with me, and, again several weeks later when I had gone back home after the funeral, she actually rang me here to see if I was OK.

I’m surprised contact by the GP is expected after a bereavement. It wouldn’t occur to me to think they would get in touch.

Similar experience when DH died but it was 3 yrs ago the only GP available to certify the death at home was the one my husband disliked intensely I felt dreadful but didn’t have a choice. I was never contacted at all from the day he was referred for diagnosis to the hospital till the day he died, apart from prescriptions, and afterwards. Like you I was surprised there was no contact at all.

My surgery sent a religious postcard thing when DH died in March, although we aren’t God Botherers. Didn’t expect anything, so a kind gesture, wasn’t contacted in person, but didn’t expect to be. Did get a nice letter from his Hospital Consultant though, as his death was far, far sooner than he’d predicted, so a shock all round.

Do GPs usually contact other family members after a death?