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 burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has been shouldered by the most vulnerable. Far from being the great equaliser, the pandemic has simply exacerbated health and social inequalities for the homeless. Jatinder Hayre calls us all to action to find practical solutions
What lies behind the patient who repeats their stories in every consultation? As the story repeats, the clinician can sometimes feel that no ground is being gained. But behind the surface of retelling may lie deep and hidden traumas.
BJGP Life is putting out a call for articles on the theme of "General Practice after Covid-19". BJGP Life will be accepting articles on this theme over the rest of this month. Do join in!
All of us are likely to be a patient one day and yet doctors often consider themselves immune to cancer. Sarah Invine reviews "Doctors get cancer too" by Philippa Kaye.
Fake news and consipracy theories are nothing new. Stuart Hannabuss introduces us to the seventeenth century physician and cleric Sir Thomas Browne, who was doing his best to debunk them even then.
Vasumathy Sivarajasingam describes how we can proactively identify and support victims of domestic abuse.
Covid is like a stress test for national governance. Jihane Naous and Basem Saab update their previous report from Lebanon, where they're not doing so well.
Matt Hawkins argues that our modern political system is constructed on a falsehood: the belief that care, empathy, and compassion have little or nothing to add to the cut and thrust of politics. Surely, though, Covid has taught us that this simply
The "Wise GP" website aims to provide a set of resources that can be used by GPs, GP trainees, medical students and the general public that show the complexity in general practice and some of what GP scholarship involves. It sounds like
Amanda Wharton, a retired GP, shares the lessons she learned from the death of her daughter. This will be one of the most important articles you will read this year.
A crash course in the methodology behind health coaching studies, covering: presense, goal definition, self-awareness, practical application, and the growth mindset. Known to benefit both the consultation process and the clinician, health coaching has the potential to improve outcomes for patient choice
In recent times racism and xenophobia have blighted British life. Julian Simpson reviews "Elite Migrants", a book that reminds us of the true place of migrants: at the heart of some of the most essential aspects of our nation's life.
Doctors and counsellors may have very different roles, but also a huge overlap of their relationship with their patients or clients. Dr Stuart Hannabuss, an honorary humanist university chaplain, talks us through some of the pitfalls and opportunities.
Clinicians and healthcare systems allow subtle forms of dehumanisation to enter clinical practice, so that people are treated as objects within the system. Judith Dawson appeal to us to watch our language!
A recent report by SAGE suggests high rates of vaccine hesitancy in Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups. The reasons underlying a higher degree of vaccine hesitancy in such communities are complex and varied. Julia Darko helps us to understand and navigate the
Patients being treated for cancer during the Covid-19 pandemic face a double challenge. Feryad Hussain talks us through the issues and suggests the best ways to help.
COVID-19 is bad enough. And we know there will be a mountain of clearing up to do later. Richard Armitage tells us about the impact of the pandemic on rheumatology referrals from general practice in England.
2021 is the 50th anniversary of the publication in the Lancet of Julian Tudor Hart’s seminal article; 'The inverse care law’. Melvyn Jones tells us about the general practice prize for undergraduate students at St George’s University of London named in Tudor
"I ask them - but I'm not asking them in a way that invites a 'yes'" - It can be difficult to broach the subject of self-harm or suicidal thoughts during a consultation. After altering her practice since reading Ford et al's
Getting a place in medical school should be a matter of meritocracy. One’s socioeconomic background or personal connections should not affect it; there should be a level playing field. But how do we achieve this? Ishaq Miah, Farzeen Mahmood, Mahin Amir, Sagal
Shireen Kassam and Laura Freeman have previously described the medical advantages of a plant based diet. Here they tell us about their own journey to start Plant Based Health Online, a commumity interest company that puts profits back into improving the health
The Clarendon Lodge Medical Practice had demonstrated the health benefits of regular exercise in a big way. Here's how.....
Telephone encounters may be more efficient and safer during the pandemic but but Judith Reeder argues that they are inferior to the interaction that occurs when you are able to share words and emotions face to face.
There is a growing realisation that Long-COVID can also occur in children, with numerous physical symptoms and emotional consequences. NHS England now recognises that Long COVID in children needs urgent evaluation, and as GPs we need to help children and their parents
With the incidence rate of coeliac disease in the UK increasing four-fold between 1990 and 2011, it is essential that patients with coeliac disease continue to receive appropriate support and management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, Yvonne Jeanes et al. outline how
We might feel we have had a terrible year. Most of the world have had it much worse. Nathaniel Aspray reviews an inspirational film about the origins and early years of Partners In Health, an internationally renowned health charity.
Louise Dubras reflects on Covid vaccination. We give more than a vaccine. We give hope. We also give a healing encounter, a touch that starts their return to being in the world.
Ashley Liston, having been a GP for 34 years, chose to postpone his retirement to work in wave one of the pandemic. He tells about the lessons he has learned about working in new teams and his hopes for the future of
Perhaps Primary Care will after all become the restorers of ‘normality’. Whatever happens, we will still be here. We will still be listening; still validating lives. Emma Ladds reminds us why, despite Coronavirus, General Practice is still the best job in the
We talk to GP, Dr Emily Donovan, about new research into the experience of domestic abuse by female doctors.
Have some patients been receiving the wrong type of ‘aid’ when they became seriously unwell in the COVID-19 pandemic? Peter Nightingale explains the concept of "last aid" for dying patients.
With COVID-19 forcing a shift to predominantly remote consulting, how do we ensure that physician associates are fully supported in their role in primary care? The Sheffield Physician Associate (PA) Preceptorship scheme may be one way, offering a formalised support package for
According to Euripides, "the sea washes away all men's illnesses". However Tadhg Crowley gives some less marine but more pragmatic advice as to how we can maintain our own mental wellbeing.
Half of patients with elevated blood sugars, with an HbA1c greater than 42, are not clinically obese. As well as the usual measures Sarah Blake asks whether we need to pay more attention to post prandial blood sugar spikes - is it
Point-of-Care Ultrasonography is an exciting new technology for primary care. It offers real potential, but Michael Tanael and Shari-Jean Hafner warn us to consider the balance of evidence and to proceed with caution.
People living with severe and prolonged mental illness in England die 15-20 years earlier than the general population. Richard Armitage alerts us to the fact that there has been a marked decrease in the proportion of such patients who have had a
How should antipsychotic medication be reviewed when patients no longer have access to a psychiatrist? In the UK, little guidance is available. Lisa Grünwald and her colleagues are reflecting on the issues and asking for our help.
With the mainstreaming of genomics, GPs are likely to encounter genetic conditions more frequently. Samuel Edwards, a GPST1, shares their insights and skills gained while completing an innovative post in Clinical Genetics and General Practice.
Peter Aird has been vaccinating the frail elderly against Covid-19. He reflects that if we view the old or clinically vulnerable as of less value than the young and strong, then we open the door to a world where the aged and
There’s some persuasive anatomical evidence to support the theory that we evolved to be runners. Maybe more of us should try it? Victoria Hodges review a classic.
