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.
Socially excluded populations have some of the worst health outcomes relating to mortality, morbidity, service use and, more recently, COVID-19. A group of 5th year Medical Students at the University of Edinburgh tell us what they are doing about it.
Evidence suggests that exercise is the most likely intervention to help people living with pain. Encouraging people with pain to exercise has always been considered a challenge. Chris Davis describes an innovative project that shows us how this can be done.
We become accustomed as GPs to time being broken up into 10-minute blocks. Time, what was once fluid, is now a regimented 'slot', but to the patient the consultation extends beyond its walls. Exploring the perception of time from both the clinician
We have all come across many patients who suffer psychologically, in the last stages of their life, often with a crisis of meaning. Emma Presern reviews the recent evidence on psychedelic therapy.
Winston Churchill defined Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. Dr Harald Lipman was Medical Attaché to the British Embassy in Moscow in the 1980s. Jim Brockbank reviews his memoirs.
Lockdown has affected not only patients and doctors, but will affect the future of general practice itself. Maxwell Cooper gives us a heads up.
Anita Campbell brings us up to date with the activities of the RCGP Later Career and Retired Members (LCARM) Group.
Dr Jo Parsons tells us about the findings from a systematic review into which patients miss appointments and why.
The NHS must keep all records until 10 years after a patient's death. With paper records taking up valuable space, retired GP and primary care notes summariser Nigel Masters asks, is it finally time for us to take a 'destructive step' and
Trust is an essential part of the doctor–patient relationship, but how is it formed, nurtured, and perhaps most importantly, broken? Dr Sheena Sharma writes openly on her own experience of trust, both as a GP and a patient, and at an individual
Anxious and depressed people become preoccupied with their stressors. And if you are worried about covid then social media has become a great place to get more worried. Daniel James is getting concerned about the harm that may be caused by social
Our special series: General Practice after Covid-19. What have our colleagues said? Here are links to all of the articles.
Amanda Howe reflects on Albert Camus’ 1947 novel “The plague” and finds it remarkably relevant for our time.
Wither GP after Covid? For Peter Toon, if healthcare is to flourish as an activity which promotes human flourishing and produces internal goods such as knowledge, skill, joy and love, not subject to a “zero-sum” rule, then an interpretive function must be central.
Research scientists spend an appreciable amount of time considering how they can best collect the data needed for a given study. Perhaps, as we return to some sort of new normal, GPs need to do the same as we evaluate the changes
New NICE guidelines suggest that patients with chronic primary pain should be withdrawn from ‘addictive’ analgesic and benzodiazepine medicines – and that ‘non-addictive’ antidepressants should be the only pharmacological option ‘recommended’. For Marion Brown this scenario is fraught with problems - might it
General Practice after Covid: is there a role for retired GPs in the post-covid era? Ashley Liston says yes!
Pamela Martin listens in to a future GP recruitment interview.....
Dr Jean-Pierre Laake and Prof Willie Hamilton join us to talk about a randomised controlled trial that targeted groups to encourage them to attend for possible cancer-related symptoms.
Advance care planning conversations for people likely to be in the last year of life are often not easy. Charles Daniels offers us “the 4 W’s + 1” - a straightforward tool for having difficult advance care planning discussions.
General Practice after Covid? For Asif Yaseen it means having a few face to face clinics a week with the rest of the appointments being remote.