BJGP interviews summer break
We're on a summer break until 3 September 2024.
The home of general practice and family medicine
Book Review: Just a GP Diaries from a Career in General Practice by Denis Pereira Gray
Anyone currently working in general practice who is, or aspires to be, an effective influencer should read this to learn what it takes to make the changes to improve health care. It also explains what has often been lost from the institutional
The Ealing Domestic Abuse Initiative: A success story
The Ealing Borough Primary Care Team has implemented measures to address DA, aiming to raise awareness and dismantle stigma among staff and patients. Vasumathy Sivarajasingam shares insights from the Ealing approach.
Minimising health disparities in dermatology through cultural competence
Hana MO Elhassan argues we should minimise health disparities through cultural competence. A good starting point is developing better awareness of common skin and hair care practices within various ethnic minority populations, and appreciating their clinical significance.
A room with a view to die for
Sophy Wollaston offers a lyrical journey from doctor to patient and from community to hospital... and back again
BJGP interviews summer break
We're on a summer break until 3 September 2024.
In conversation with a new GP
Newly-qualified GP John McCullough seeks wisdom from established GP and rural medicine lecturer Tim Sanders. It feels like a tough time to enter General Practice – has it always been this way?
Key findings of the Appleby review of suicides and gender dysphoria at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust
The Appleby review is ostensibly a response to claims made on social media that there has been a substantial increase in suicide rates in current and recent patients of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.
AI: A plausible prospect or distant delusion in primary care?
"I asked ChatGPT to write me 100 words on the potential uses of AI in UK general practice, and it instantaneously churned out the above. I am simultaneously amazed and terrified!" Paul McNamara ponders the role of AI in his professional lifetime.
Wagging the dog
The inappropriate transfer of work from secondary care in particular is a well-recognised problem which seems difficult to address. Ben Hoban wonders if this reflects a broadly political change in the goals of British healthcare.
Episode 178 – How to communicate breast cancer risk in women taking HRT with a family history of breast cancer
In this episode, we talk to Professor Clare Turnbull about HRT risk and a family history of breast cancer.
Yonder: prescribing cascades, teacher wait time, online services for mental health conditions, community DVT pathways
Yonder looks at prescribing cascades, teacher wait time, online services for mental health conditions, community DVT pathways
Reflecting on the recent racist riots
Carter Singh reflects that we need to address the underlying cause of the racism, hatred, polarisation and intolerance that is now brimming over the edges into everyday life.
Family values: reflections on heritage at the 60th Venice Biennale
The 60th Venice Biennale hidden among the palazzi, churches, and gardens of this beautiful city reflects what is means to be ‘Foreign’. With a global backdrop of multifarious crises concerning movement across countries, nations, territories, and borders, this would seem a pertinent
Regression to ‘barefoot’
"Non-medically qualified practitioners of medicine are not new. One may look at two spectacular examples of the contribution by these colleagues, Hamilton Naki and Mamitu Gashe ..."
Episode 177 – The problem with defining GP work in terms of sessions – a study of trends in GP working hours and intensity
In this episode, we talk to Dr Joe Hutchinson about how the problems with defining a GP's work in sessional terms.
Regarding General Practice: An appeal to the new UK Government
Peter Toon and colleagues call on the new UK government to re-evaluate the market-driven ethos in which the NHS has been managed. Is a new GP Charter overdue?
Not the End of the World. How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet by Hannah Ritchie
Hannah Ritchie takes a clear-eyed view to understand how we got where we are, what the real problems are, and what we should be doing to build a truly sustainable world. Throughout Ritchie supports her arguments with evidence and data. Terry Kemple
Are the English Integrated Care Boards subject to unjustified cost pressures?
Here, Rodney Jones looks at the allocation formulae that distribute money and resources to England’s Integrated Care Boards. He examines the hidden assumptions behind the formulae and asks why nearness to death has never been incorporated into the calculations.
Endometriosis – findings from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death
The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) review has recently published a review of the quality of care provided to people diagnosed with endometriosis. What can we learn from this report, and what can GPs do differently to improve
Cybersecurity and all that… (reflections on the Crowdstrike outage)
The whole of modern general practice in the UK rests on both the electronic healthcare record and networked services for requests and results. Brendan Delaney reflects on the Crowdstrike outage of July 19th 2024
Episode 176 – Link workers for social prescribing: the inverse care law and identifying areas of higher need
In this episode, we talk to Anna Wilding about how the social prescribing link worker scheme is being rolled out.
A bitter pill to swallow: The rising use of street valium in Scotland
Paul McNamara and Yoosuf Ibrahim argue that is imperative for GPs to highlight the increased risk of overdose associated with street valium use, given its unpredictable composition, to individuals struggling with drug dependency. Additionally, efforts should be made on disseminating knowledge about
Eating the elephant or riding it
If all we have to offer are platitudes and cures, we will be stuck forever trying to eat the elephant in the room, a possibility in theory, but rarely in practice. If we can understand and engage with our patient’s point of
GP workload and patient safety
How has increasing workload impacted on GPs, and our sense of providing safe care to our patients? Nada Khan finds that research into workload and safety suggests an association between wellbeing, burnout and patient safety.
Advancing back to the Middle Ages – The Barbers of Saxmundham.
Effective public health campaigns need more than posters and TV ads about going to see your GP. We need to get key community influencers in the team if we are going to have any impact whatsoever. John Havard argues that barbers have
Episode 175 – How to work with patients to prevent long-term use of opioids in general practice
In this episode, we talk to Lisa Davies about how to frame discussions in practice around opioid prescribing.
Yonder: Rural generalists, mental health of refugees, end-of-career GP reflections, and lung ultrasonography
Yonder: a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories from beyond the mainstream biomedical literature
A secret medicine
The intervention takes less than a minute every day - and done at scale would be safe and as cheap as chips. Imagine that existing good quality evidence showed that it is 10 times more effective than the current NHS Health Check
Developing compassionate communities through Community-Oriented Integrated Practice
"Health is whatever helps me to travel hopefully within and between my story-strands." Paul Thomas describes this as Community-Oriented Integrated Practice (COIP) – a way of thinking & acting that facilitates local collaboration for health and care.
Showcasing primary care models in South Asia: sharing experiences from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
"In the dynamic landscape of healthcare delivery, South Asia stands at the forefront of transformative change, particularly in the realm of family medicine. This article explores and elucidates the diverse models of family practice emerging across the region ... "
Episode 174 – Risk of Parkinson’s in patients with new onset anxiety – implications for practice
In this episode, we talk about the association between new onset anxiety and risk of developing Parkinson's.
Everything happens in the context of a relationship
I don’t need to tell a GP audience this, but it’s always worth a reminder. For us GPs the relationship is everything. Outside GPs this doesn’t seem widely understood. Everyone will agree that relationships are crucial, but usually in a way that
My most important read of the past year – Good Reasons for Bad Feelings.
In 'Good Reasons for Bad Feelings', Randolph M. Nesse offers a fresh perspective on anxiety and depression in modern day living – that of evolutionary medicine, specifically evolutionary psychiatry.
The RCGP Physician Associates survey – what’s the future for physician associates in general practice?
Plans to include PAs in general practice have been recently challenged with a recent Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) call to halt additional recruitment and deployment of physician associates. The RCGP position is based on results from a recent survey of
A GP’s Journey with ChatGPT
As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated and accessible, it is important for GPs to engage with this technology, argues Marcus Lewis
What is avoidant restrictive food intake disorder?
Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is classified as an eating disorder diagnosis. Clare Ellison and colleagues outline the potential signs of ARFID, detail an initial primary care assessment, and present resources for signposting and further CPD.
Episode 173 – Sarcoma: diagnosing this rare type of bone cancer in general practice
In this episode, we talk to Dr Meena Rafiq about diagnosis of sarcoma in general practice.
Myriads of deities
In Japan, there is a saying that deities disguise themselves as difficulties and offer trials to those who have true courage and strength. My supervisors taught me that when we are overwhelmed and troubled by complex problems, we should respond with sincerity
Normal Schmormal
This book would resonate with parents of neurodiverse children and help them feel less alone, but I also think it is a funny and kind explanation for people who don’t have experience living with SEN or neurodiversity. With the increase in general