Boris Johnson tells us we have to “learn to live with Covid”. There is much talk of using “common sense” but Peter Toon reminds us this is not all that common and discusses some of the issues involved.
NHS England-led changes to the way we deliver primary care to our care home residents were accelerated due to the Covid pandemic. Deirdre Walsh and Domini James report on their own local feedback.
The good news is that palliative care is reaching more people with cancer, organ failure and frailty and dementia, and is starting earlier. But Scott Murray and Jordi Amblas question why planned and emergency medical care continues to expand even more for
"There is something immensely grounding about working with the earth and weathering the seasons. Gardening is immersive. It slows you down and can be a humbling experience." Charlotte Sidebotham takes us back to the soil.
We speak to Dr Marta Wanat about a study that explored the experiences of primary care across eight European countries during the first wave of COVID-19.
We know that information gathering in the medical consultation is through both verbal and non-verbal communication. But there is also that which goes unsaid. Chris Ellis offers his reflections on the importance of accessing that which is unsaid.
COVID-19 has accelerated the uptake of digital consultations. But rather than focus on form, perhaps our attention should fall to how the content of consultations has changed. Dr Clare Etherington and Dr Liliana Risi explore this in detail and suggest that 'digital
We might be tempted to think it's the beginning of the end of the Covid19 pandemic. But it's only the beginning of the beginning of the Long Covid pandemic. Carter Singh discusses the issues we need to face.
Many politicians, planners and now younger doctors are advocating more remote and procedurally algorithmic practice. These assume the irrelevance of personal continuity of care. Yet much gets lost. What? David Zigmond gives us three authentic tales from a single practice.
It's not been an easy time to be a doctor! Jonathan Wells reviews "The Wellbeing Toolkit for Doctors", a timely new book for GPs, medical students and doctors in training. Let's look after ourselves and each other!
The Editor, Euan Lawson, is joined by our Associate Editor Dr Nada Khan for some conversation. The July issue has been published and we talk over some of the highlights in this month's issue.
We are given reassurances that the MRCGP exams are fair and unbiased. But Laura Emery, an Academic Clinical Fellow at the University of Sheffield, challenges us to ask whether this is correct.
'... this book helps to illuminate the feminist perspective on injustice in health care.' — Judith Dawson reviews Elinor Creghorn's new book 'Unwell Women', a history of the mistreatment, misdiagnoses, trauma, and neglect women have received in health care from Ancient Greece
Two final year medical students share their experience of OSCEs, where they and their BME peers experienced differences in patient feedback and in general OSCE marks between themselves and their white counterparts. They make a plea for structural changes that will ensure
Is the NHS too Industrialised? In this report David Zigmond argues that it is. Zigmond builds on a Kings Fund Report from 2014 which criticised recent approaches to improving UK health care. These reports cover vital issues, as yet another round of NHS
How can we support people with long-COVID to return to work? Ira Madan and colleagues review the current literature and guidance from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians.
Erin Oldenhof and Dr Petra Staiger join us from Australia to offer practical, actionable advice from their paper to support prescribers in discontinuing benzodiazepines.
Euan Mackinnon and colleagues sound the alert that COVID-19 lockdowns have reduced head and neck cancer referrals to secondary care, and now primary tumour size is significantly larger at presentation. We need to reverse this worrying trend. Cancer hasn't gone away.
Funding for online consultation services varies across the UK. Kris McLaughlin argues that online consultations will remain a vital part of future general practice, and will in fact improve access for all patients, not just the young or digitally savvy.
Pimary care is undergoing a seismic restructuring such that the nature of the job has changed beyond recognition. Nigel Masters reflects on the role played by the electronic health record which tethers doctors to the computer screen.
The travelling community has historically struggled to achieve equal access to healthcare. They have a higher prevalence of disease, lower literacy rates, poor health education and are burdened with significant rates of poverty. So what does this mean during the current pandemic?
During training, we learnt that a doctor either ‘has’ or ‘lacks’ empathy. But we ALL have empathy in various forms. Rabia Aftab shows us how we can learn to have empathetic consultations.
Dr Felicity Knights talks to us about new research on the impact of COVID-19 and migrant health and how we can make primary care more accessible.
The recent conflict has led to the Palestinian Ministry of Health offices being bombed and the main Palestinain COVID-19 laboratory being targeted also. Our medical colleagues are overwhelmed and struggling for resources. Abdullah Albeyatti gives us a glimpse as to the conditions
Saving Sick Britain argues for a society that places the health of its citizens at the forefront, but is such a future attainable? Richard Churchill reviews the new book published by Manchester University Press.
The pressure is building up in General Practice and Primary Care. Will things get better? Will things get even worse? Will General Practice have a future as the greatest of all the medical professions? David Mummery gives us his take on problems
Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) affects approximately 14 infants a year in England. The condition is usually fatal by 12-18 months of age without bone marrow transplantation. Public Health England will be performing a two year evaluation of newborn screening for SCID in
The UK Government announced its intention to introduce a national system of medical examiners in England which will result in the scrutiny of all deaths not referred to the coroner. Frances Cranfield explains what we need to know.
Dr Fiona Cuthil talks to us about new research on GP outreach settings for people experiencing homelessness.
We are repeatedly told that we should learn from the airline industry in order to solve our perennial problems with patient safety. So why don't we? Why is the NHS so dysfunctional in its management? Henry Tegner's review of Barry Monk's important
Princes Park Health Centre has an iconic status within the health economy of Merseyside. Founded in 1977 by Cyril Taylor, it was set up as an explicitly socialist practice in a deprived inner-city area. Chris Dowrick reviews Katy Gardner and Susanna Graham
From this year GP registrars will be spending two years of their training in the community. Rachel Roberts and her colleagues share their findings from a pilot scheme.
To tell, or not to tell? David Zigmond gives us three case vignettes that explore this area of doctor patient communication.
Dr Elizabeth Cecil joins us to talk about research exploring the factors associated with potentially missed acute deterioration in primary care.
The role of a GP is not merely clinical management, but committing to a person-centred approach. Might the Covid-19 pandemic have caused us to lose some of that ‘real’ touch with our patients? Rabia Aftab enters the face to face consultation debate.
Syed Ishaq Husain and his colleagues are thinking globally and acting locally. Here they show us how the UN Sustainability Goals and Materiality Assessments can be used as tools for General Practice.
What is the role of doctors in improving ‘quality of life’ and what does this concept mean? Emma Storr reviews an important new book by Robin Downie that considers this, and many other questions.
The Tate Britain has re-opened! Roger Jones advises us not to miss the Turner Exhibition - maybe life's getting good again!
GPDPR is a new initiative from NHS Digital to collect data held in GP medical records, to be available to third parties for research and planning. Unlike most other projects, patients have to actively opt out if they do not want their
Martin Benfield shares his particular consulting style, aiming to make the history taking more transparent to the patient, helping the patient to see in advance where the doctor is going.