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Editorial comment – problems and solutions in palliative care?

2 November 2020

David Misselbrook is a retired GP and semi retired medical educator. He is currently deputy editor of the BJGP.

BJGPLife is our coffee room a place for news, chat, exchange of ideas and sometimes for challenging discussion. BJGP Life is all the more needed in this year of Covid, when many face to face chats are impossible.

Today (Monday) we are publishing two articles on the rapid changes in palliative care practice brought on by the current Covid-19 pandemic. Ben Bowers and colleagues alert us to some of the unintended consequences in such a rapid change in our practice. They point out the current constraints and challenge us to ask patients and informal caregivers about their experiences and preferences for care. Then Ria Agarwal and Sarah Mitchell ask whether Physician Associates might be one element in finding a way forward for palliative care in such challenging times. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are publishing a podcast on end of life recognition, and, well, something a little different around the same theme….

As well as the excellent and challenging content of these four articles, the diverse professional backgrounds of the authors give us a timely reminder that our primary care teams must truly be multidisciplinary if we are to face current challenges.

A coffee room needs discussion – we need you to join in! Do you agree or disagree with what our authors say? Why not have your say? Please contribute to the discussion by adding your comments in the “leave a reply” box at the end of articles. (Discussion will be moderated. No personal attacks or offensive comments please.)

Better still, if you have something that you want to share with your colleagues, why not send in your own articles – see https://bjgplife.com/contribute/  for guidance.

We, and your colleagues, are waiting to hear from you!

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