BJGP Life – The home of general practice and family medicine

Close up of a Mac keyboard, one key, labelled AI, glowing obviously.

Artificial intelligence and the BJGP: immediate policy changes

Announcing new policies for the use of AI in the BJGP - most importantly, we are emphasising the importance of human-written content.

Latest

Shared grief

22 October 2026

Intense grief can, despite the fact that everyone is experiencing grief somewhere in their life, be regarded as one of the biggest taboos in medicine, at least in Western society. While grief in itself is difficult to describe, it can sometimes be better approached in a poem ...

When the social media feed gets there first: apomediation and the modern consultation

Apomediation is the term given to the concept where users read guidance and information from peripheral mediators who influence and curate what information is absorbed through algorithims. Much of this guidance is now built into systems designed around attention, repetition,

21 October 2026

Episode 244: Recurrent UTIs: which non-antibiotic approaches actually work?

In this episode, we discuss the evidence for non-antibiotic treatments for UTI.

20 October 2026

Yonder: Sleep apnoea, persistent physical symptoms, health inequalities by language proficiency, and new-onset diabetes

Yonder: a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories from beyond the mainstream biomedical literature ...

19 October 2026

Opinion and Clinical

Book review·Opinion

Scars and stains: Lessons from intensive care, by Mark Z Y Tan

A challenging and reflective memoir with lessons for both the wider medical profession and a public readership. The stories are relatable beyond intensive care.

16 October 2026

Opinion

Before and after

We speak of experience as though it simply builds knowledge. But perhaps it does something deeper and more profound. It changes the person who is doing the knowing.

15 October 2026

Opinion

Who benefits from artificial intelligence in health care? A right-to-health perspective from the Global South

Here, Mohammad Razai and colleagues look at the introduction of AI systems into population-level health decisions. For low- and middle-income countries, these systems can cause both ethical and material problems. Racial and gendered hierarchies and ‘data colonialism’ could result unless there are

14 October 2026

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 243: Local incentives and general practice: what does the evidence show?

In this episode, we talk to Matt Conroy about the impact of local enhanced incentive schemes.

13 October 2026

Opinion

On social functions

"The thing about being swept along by cultural currents is that you don’t notice until they start to change direction. Those currents are just the way things are. As GPs we go about our daily work noticing the diagnostic challenges, the prescribing

12 October 2026

Opinion

Is physical activity the forgotten casualty of the GLP-1 revolution?

As GLP-1 receptor agonists become embedded within obesity care, a striking paradox is emerging. We are investing unprecedented energy, resources, and attention into pharmaceutical treatment of obesity at the very moment that one of the most important determinants of long-term health —

9 October 2026

Opinion

Empathy

Empathy makes me a great doctor. Until it doesn’t.

8 October 2026

Clinical

Why GPs need to be able to recognise high-consequence infectious diseases

Given the incidence of acute sinusitis in primary care, it’s unsurprising that other presentations are sometimes mistaken for it. But the consequences of one example of such misdiagnosis in the US were both surprising and enormous not only for the patient, but

7 October 2026

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 242: Diagnosing in the dark: recognising childbirth-related PTSD in general practice

In this episode, we talk about childbirth trauma and the challenges in diagnosing and managing it in general practice.

6 October 2026

Book Reviews

Book review

How to talk to AI (And how not to), by Jamie Bartlett

...it feels empowering to be reminded that in the new reality we find ourselves in, it is philosophy and the languages, as well as psychology, which are going to help us to adapt (and if necessary, to fight).

6 mins read

Book review·Opinion

Scars and stains: Lessons from intensive care, by Mark Z Y Tan

A challenging and reflective memoir with lessons for both the wider medical profession and a public readership. The stories are relatable beyond intensive care.

3 mins read

Book review

Book Review: Hungry: A Biography of My Body

Katriona O'Sullivan's memoir Hungry depicts a growing discomfort with how both the media and the medical community are talking about patients living with obesity. We have been giving patients with obesity two options, and both take agency away. 'Eat less and move more', which lands

3 mins read

Book review

Design Thinking for Healthcare: A practical guide to healthcare transformation, by Daniel Steenstra.

Designing the undesignable? Trisha Greenhalgh reflects on a new book for design thinking in healthcare.

3 mins read

Book review·Opinion

Generalism in clinical practice and education, edited by Sophie Park and Kay Leedham-Green

What is a generalist? Why should this matter in medical education? Sophie Park and Kay Leedham-Green have co-edited an ostensibly free medical textbook with loads of practically useful answers.

4 mins read

Book review·Opinion

The ethical clinician, by Daniel Sokol

This book is a masterfully succinct demonstration of how to use the four principles of bioethics and allied concepts in practice, its power lies in Daniel Sokol's compelling storytelling.

4 mins read

Book review

The Quantum Gene, by Brian McKinstry

This is a plot involving geniuses, billionaires, governments, spies, academic skullduggery, corruption and eco-terrorism... solid beach reading.

2 mins read

Book review

Magnifica Humanitas: On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, by Pope Leo XIV

The central message of the encyclical is that humanity, with all its greatness and weakness, must never be replaced or surpassed. Technology should remain a tool that serves human beings, not a force that defines or controls them.

3 mins read

Book review·Opinion

Your health as the climate changes: Disease and death on a warming planet, by Scott G Fraser

This book is informative and shocking but also surprising. It quite literally brings home the biggest global health threat of the 21st century (so far).

3 mins read

Arts·Book review

Exhibition review: A Second Life by Tracey Emin

"Emin, through her art, has converted the chaos generated from sexual abuse and poverty in early life into a beautiful lens for us to understand ourselves and our patients better." - Hector Watson and Elizabeth Walton review Tracey Emin's A Second Life, exhibiting at Tate

3 mins read

1

International

Arts·International

Teaching medicine with art: a show and tell

I have, at times and where appropriate, introduced different aspects of the humanities but find that art and poems provide, for the students, a short and often stimulating awareness of everyday life and illness.

4 mins read

Clinical·International·Opinion

Chronic subdural haematoma: reflections from a super-aged society

In an aging society, chronic subdural haematoma, increasingly sits at the intersection of ageing, falls, frailty, medication, and functional decline. A clinical reflection from Japan.

3 mins read

International·Opinion

Enough of complaining at the coffee break – It is time for action!

Advocacy is not a rock star on stage; it is a choir. It is every primary health care organisation, every family doctor, pulling in the same direction. My dream is that family medicine becomes a standard participant in every health policy conversation...

4 mins read

International·Opinion

Medical tourism: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Medical tourism doesn’t reduce NHS workload. It splits it. The funded, planned, well-resourced part of care happens elsewhere. The complications, the uncertainty, the chronic follow-up land back in general practice. Without warning. Without resource. And without anyone having agreed to it.

4 mins read

International·Opinion

Wielding a double-edged sword: how can learners use AI well in reflection?

Dialogue with a supervisor is precious, but there are physical limits to how often and how long it can occur. AI was always available, ready to work through my reflections whenever I needed.

3 mins read

Long Read

Data sovereignty and stewardship: are GP patient records still safe?

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Patients disclose personal and sensitive information to GPs because they trust us to protect it. Historically, we have been able to honour that belief without thinking too hard about data governance and infrastructure. That is no longer enough.

11 mins read

Oblivion, Ageing, Disability, and the Quiet Architecture of Erasure

BJGP Long Read

At 75 years of age in New Zealand, David Hill has to renew his driver’s licence. He considers how what would seem to be just a routine administrative act carries a deeper meaning because it is not just about safety but about scrutiny and suspicion

9 mins read

What we count, and what we miss: a case for measuring GP workload differently

BJGP Long Read·Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion

The publisher of the national workload metric is telling us the metric is incomplete -the number that drives contract negotiations, workforce planning, commissioning, and the political conversation about general practice. We're managing a workforce crisis with a yardstick its own producers admit cannot do the

6 mins read

The ethics of looking after family and friends, a call for more helpful guidance and education

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Being a doctor when a loved one is ill can be a very difficult place to be. Guidelines do not generally reflect the reality on the ground and in the main emphasise the negative aspects of intervening. Monica Aquilina reflects on the issues...

9 mins read

5

Ambivalent care: when patients feel unheard and unsupported

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

As a clinician, do you find it challenging to treat patients with symptoms that are difficult to understand, explain or manage?

11 mins read

Trainees and students

The computer will see you now

AiT·Opinion

Yes, trainees will feel more comfortable learning in the AI realm, That is where many of us now live. Role play was always frightening and more so now.

2 mins read

When good doctors fail exams

AiT·Opinion

One lesson many trainees learn too late is that medicine cannot be our entire identity ... Because when our entire identity depends on our performance, every setback becomes a crisis.

4 mins read

Between FOMO and FOBO: A GP’s Search for “Enough”

AiT·Opinion

No matter how much we carry out, there is always somebody doing something bigger. And if we are not careful, we begin to measure our worth against impossible standards.

3 mins read

1

Teaching the art of noticing – a poem

AiT·Arts·Opinion

I noticed that you started the conversation ... before she sat down...

1 min read

1

AI detection in GP training – A hidden burden on supervisors

AiT·Opinion

As generative AI tools become more powerful and accessible, concerns about the authenticity of reflective writing are growing. Can we recognise AI‑generated text? How do we know whether a reflection is truly a learner’s own thinking?

3 mins read

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

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BJGP conference highlights, 2026

Visualised podcast – BJGP Top 10

BJGP Top 10 research 2025

BJGP Research & Publishing Conference 2026

Qualitative research: key theoretical concepts – preview

Qualitative research keynote at BJGP conference 2025

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Latest

Trainees and students

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

Recent Posts

BJGP News and Editorial Comment