Why Can’t I See My GP charts an ever- changing medical speciality. From the times where GPs practiced in their own homes, to the NHS crisis we face today, Cumbrian GP Dr Ellen Welch takes us on the journey of our National
I first read his 2014 book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies five years ago, which convinced me that the risks which would be posed to humanity by a highly capable AI system (a ‘superintelligence’) ought to be taken very seriously before such a
I’m running late, the daily mantra of a working GP ... I’m running late, not an uncommon sight to see ... I’m running late, stuck behind a tractor on my commute ... I’m running late, the laptop has some updates to compute.
The clinician who has seen the patient has now “off-loaded” their uncertainty on to the broad shoulders of the GP who has to now carry this “surrogate uncertainty” along with all their other worries for the day. It is true that GPs
In this episode, we to Laiba Hussain about user personas and marginalised patients access to general practice.
GPs feel they are increasingly managing increasingly risky mental health patients, with rising frustration that their referrals are being rejected. Just as in general practice, CMHT teams are facing their own challenges in not having the workforce or capacity to meet those
You may recognise the frustration and anger that surface when resources run short; fractures in infrastructure become apparent; staff are scarce, undertrained and approaching burnout; protocols written by distant bureaucrats fail to reflect the realities you are seeing on the front line;
Having... been ‘critiqued’ for writing in too-detached a style, I was intrigued to see how a creative writing approach would change the process of reflection. As part of a self-selected module in ethics education, I took part in a one-day course on
The safety to ask about racism is helping me to change some ingrained false beliefs and this book has been another answer to my awkward questions. It has highlighted a history that I am disappointed not to know before.
In this episode, we talk about best practice for post-hospital asthma management in primary care.
"In this article, we offer four perspectives from patients and healthcare professionals with the aim of reminding ourselves of the challenges faced by some of those affected ... "
"While a free press is vital to hold those in control of public services to account for their performance, and media coverage of A&E pressure might helpfully deter patients without a relevant clinical need from attending, media coverage — particularly that with
"I remain fascinated by, and grateful for, the excellent research that sheds light on all aspects of our work and the lives of our patients. As I hang up my pen, I take this opportunity to tip my hat to all those
In this episode, we talk to Dr Patrick Burch about experiences of continuity in extended access clinics.
Lavina Sakhrani-Clarke learns how to be ill and the importance of recovery.
...cognitive bias sustained public faith in the medical profession long before doctors had the tools to truly alter the course of an illness. These forces did not disappear the moment that working therapeutics arrived - meaning we remain enthralled by own salves
Seventeen per cent of UK households experienced food insecurity in 2023, with cases of rickets, scurvy, and malnutrition on the rise. Are we facing a revival of Dickensian-era diseases?
‘Wherefore’, meaning ‘For what reason’, is one of the most fundamental questions we must ask in medicine. Tasneem Khan applies this idea to trauma-informed care.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Shoba Dawson about prescription medication sharing behaviours.
Is there 'One Big Thing' that GPs do? Or does it emerge out of all the things that GPs do?
Nurse Bernadette Millwood, in the final year of her career, is interviewed by her daughter Dr Sinead Millwood, a newly qualified GP in the first year of hers. What can we learn about primary healthcare going forward into the future?
Ian Dunt has written an easy-to-read explainer about how our UK Government is supposed to work and how it actually does work. To show the archaic ways of working and perverse incentives that are the operating mechanisms, he strips the system down
"Healthcare professionals are being increasingly asked to consider referral for genetic testing. While for the majority with an abnormal finding, curative treatment is not currently possible, having a disease with a name can provide relief and allow for more targeted supportive measures.
Is general practice the platypus of medical specialities?
Medicine: Right Idea, wrong science? Should critical realism be the new science of medical practice?
Alistair Appleby introduces critical realism as a philosophical foundation for medical science and primary healthcare
In this episode, we talk to Dr Cathy Morgan and Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham about early signals for bipolar disorder in primary care.
Do the ARRS roles lead to GP clinics filled with increasing complexity, and what are the other contributory factors? Nada Khan looks at the evidence.
Alex Burrell reflects on the moral agonies of planning an early GP-career
Mavin Kashyap shares key practice insights from a specialist community healthcare service for asylum seekers and refugee (ASR) adults.
"We wish to share the story of an innovative digital intervention that has helped to overcome existing divisions by creating a vibrant interdisciplinary network of learning and health activism. We describe how a few family physicians created a virtual community on WhatsApp
For the record, plenty of elderly patients have excellent lifesaving care, are well looked after, and speak highly of the exemplary care and attention they had in hospital.
However, hospital isn’t always the best place for them. Let me explain why I believe
The editorial team discusses the top 10 most read papers of 2023.
Myanmar should not be forgotten in the conversation around the ongoing failure to protect hospitals and health workers in conflict zones. Jim Brockbank reminds us.
What is intensely likeable for me as a GP in his 40s is that The Health Fix also written by a GP in his 40s, with an engaging approach that blends clinical experience, medical evidence and personal history.
Pattern recognition by AI is already overtaking humans in many diagnostic fields such as radiology and cytology. Large language models are doing the same in communication, dialogue and processing human-generated text. Here we present their potential within primary care using four broad
Richard Armitage visits the wild frontier of LLM-powered commercial health apps and reflects on three examples: ElliQ, MMGuardian and WHOOP Coach
Throughout medical history, there has been a tension between systems that locate health within the patient and those that have it outside. Ben Hoban finds the determinants of health and illness by looking in and by looking out.
In this episode, we talk to Professor Kate Brain about patterns of patient characteristics associated with satisfaction with remote consultations.
Nada Khan argues that it’s worth just reflecting back on what was on offer and why, whether this retention scheme was working, and what future plans NHS England may have to keep GPs in practice.