The BJGP is the world-leading primary care journal. At BJGP Life we add multi-media comment and opinion for the primary care community.
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.
Covid has changed much. But Darren Puttock and Gailash Panray ask us to consider the possible long term impacts on general practice in terms of recruitment of trainees into the profession.
Everything in general practice seems to have changed in the last year or so. So do we manage that change, or do we just feel overwhelmed by it? Joanna Bircher and colleagues report how they used a QI model to develop services
We all know that research is not for "normal GPs" - we are all too busy. But are we right? Beatrice Shelley and colleagues say that being a practising GP and an active researcher are not as incompatible as one may think
Is it time to take a step back and reflect on the wider consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic? Judith Dawson reviews a monograph by Samar Razaq that does just that.
Healthcare in Myanmar is still in crisis. Jim Brockbank brings us an update.
Most of those who die by suicide contact primary care in the year or months prior to the suicide. GPs are a trusted and valued source for help-seeking among those who are at-risk of suicide. So how can we help? Maria Michail
Most children removed from their birth family have experienced multiple traumas. Hannah Milton finds that when talking to patients about anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship problems and difficulties with their own children’s behaviour, one her most useful history taking techniques is a simple
Remco Tuijt from the UCL Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health talks us through a qualitative paper exploring the experiences of remote consultations for people living with dementia and their carers.
The pre-pandemic ‘old normal’ had been broken for a long time. Rather than seeking to develop a ‘new normal’ we should perhaps focus on creating a ‘new different’. 'How?', I hear you ask! Well ...
Preventing ill health requires an emphasis on the behaviours. Changing patient behaviour can take years and necessitates sustained resources. Vasumathy Sivarajasingam introduces us to the basics of motivational interviewing.
'The Migrant Diaries is the most powerful, moving, and informative account I have come across of the worldwide migrant/refugee crisis ... ' — Dougal Jeffries reviews Dr Lynne Jones latest novel, The Migrant Diaries.
The UK national quarantines for Covid-19 are the first for any infectious disease for over 140 years. Edward Reynolds questions their effectiveness, and asks why a previously effective system of public health in the UK was effectively dismantled.
What is it to be a GP? Many are keen to tell us what extra tasks we should be doing. Sati Heer-Stavert suggests we go back to Plato's theory of forms to reflect on what GPness actually means.
Do you remember the 1990s Defeat Depression Campaign? Do you remember we were told that anti-depressants were safe, effective and non-addictive? Marion Brown reminds us of the sad truths that we have since learned - to our patients' cost.
Dr Alison Berner talks about recent research into the attitudes of trans men and non-binary people to cervical screening.
The upheavals of the last year have meant that trust needs to be managed differently. Joanne Reeve examines the role of both 'scientia' and 'caritas' in the doctor / patient relationship.
The 2020 Lancet Countdown on health and climate change finds that excess red meat consumption is causing nearly a million deaths globally every year. Laura Freeman and Shireen Kassam argue that it is time for family doctors to support patients to remove
David Hockney shows no sign of slowing down at 82 - he says "work is more fun than fun". Roger Jones reviews this wonderful book by Martin Gayford, placing Hockney's latest project within the whole stream of art history.
Muslims form one third of the Black and Minority Ethnic group in the UK and are ethnically diverse. There is substantive evidence of racial inequalities in healthcare. Jamila Sherif tells about the problem of unconscious bias in Muslim womens' experiences of healthcare.
The editor, Euan Lawson, is joined by all three Associate Editors, Sam Merriel, Tom Round, and Nada Khan, for some conversation on highlights from the May 2021 issue.
