The BJGP is the world-leading primary care journal. At BJGP Life we add multi-media comment and opinion for the primary care community.
Made Possible details the appalling historical mistreatment of people with learning disabilities, as well as the challenges faced today. Salman reflects on the empowerment and the personal achievements she witnessed when her sister was well supported, and the uphill struggle to try
2020 will be remembered as the year of Covid-19, a global pandemic that has touched the lives of more human beings than any disease in human history. Life around the world began to change.
Sally Hull discusses new research published in BJGP. E London GPs were incredibly busy seeing COVID in the early stages of the pandemic, even though this work was missing in the national narrative, and she explains their findings related to ethnicity.
Not long following the horrors of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, Liberia now faces the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Bryant, medical director of ELWA hospital in Liberia, describes the day-to-day struggle to provide quality care for patients in an already critically strained healthcare
Judith Dawson reflects on the draft NICE guidelines for the management of chronic primary pain. There is widespread use of ineffective and addictive pain medication of questionable benefit. However, implementing any change will depend on a cohesive approach across primary and secondary
Simon Morgan reflects on how travel and his travel medicine practice have been derailed in the pandemic.
Aarti Bansal is a GP in Sheffield and the founder of Greener Practice. She talks about greener lower carbon prescribing, reducing waste, and improving clinical outcomes. She also considers how we can reduce travel for patients and other practical actions practices can
Despite ‘seeing’ more patients remotely, we are becoming more isolated, living our lives in lonely clinics and solitary consultations. The art of medicine becomes abstract, doctors and patients united in their separation.
Claire Friedemann Smith explains the findings of a systematic review that suggests GPs' gut feelings may have a role in cancer diagnosis. The studies, which used varied conceptualisations of 'gut feelings', showed associations with patients initially being unwell rather than with a
As the country is gripped by fear of a new pandemic it places doctors and other healthcare workers once again in the spotlight. There is understandable fear amongst the public about the nature of the current pandemic and how it may affect
Louise Stone (@GPswampwarrior) is an Australian GP with clinical, research, teaching and policy expertise in mental health. t would be nice if the world of mental health fell neatly into a taxonomy. It would be nice if we could, as Plato wrote,
Public Health England’s two reviews on disparities in COVID-19 failed to address the significantly higher proportion of ethnic minority healthcare workers who tragically died from COVID-19, and provides no detailed road-map to tackle these inequalities in the future. Reflecting on these uninspiring
Carter Singh is a full time GP partner at Willowbrook Medical Practice, Nottinghamshire. An 'expert-by-lived-experience' in racial inequality, it is this passion that motivates him to challenge discrimination, inequality, and marginalisation in the NHS.
Under the Prevent policy, NHS Trust staff are trained to spot signs of radicalisation and refer cases to the government. Within a systemically racist social system this policy succeeds only in targeting minority groups and those who are most vulnerable. The abolishment
Ed Warren is a retired GP. He notes that a feature of getting older is that you have more opinions and are convinced that others want to hear them. He reflects on the ageing process, cognitive biases, coming to terms with his
The vulnerability and medical complexity of our care home residents means their clinical care is often challenging. However, with the emergence of COVID-19, the scale of this challenge has increased significantly with primary care support becoming predominantly remote and care homes asked
We had to create a monster. A monster so huge, and so terrifying that we were sufficiently motivated. So, we the shielded, are being asked to move from essentially no risk, to an undefinable, unguaranteeable low risk situation. I am immensely thankful
During the wintry January and February months, I had the pleasure of spending three tropical weeks in the vibrant city of Lagos, Nigeria. My experiences were enjoyable and enlightening, however I increasingly became aware of the power of the NHS and the
Angel of Death by Gareth Williams provides a very comprehensive history of smallpox and vaccine development, which has parallels with the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Well-respected epidemiologists predicted, from the outset, that the societal, economic and psychological harm from the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdowns was likely to be far greater than the perceived risk of death. However, such views were lost in the narrative of fear that predominated
Immediate action is needed to consider how we deal with the surge in ‘hot’ paediatric patients this winter. We need to make it clear to parents that GPs and A&E are open for business and create a safe, easily accessible system by
The opportunities to treat more and more patients in less and less time is the unspoken aim of the improving of technology. But as we move into this future, we must continue to courageously ask both ourselves and our employers; is this
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is a form of interstitial lung disease caused by the repeated exposure and immune sensitisation to organic dusts and certain industrial agents. The circumstances of lockdown may increase the exposure of the public — and waste management workers in particular
Dr Tony Williams is a consultant occupational physician and discusses their evidence-based tool that helps patients understand their risk and vulnerability. GPs can use it in the consultation to calculate a "Covid-age".
The Cumberledge report puts forward the case for radical reform. Dealing with those who have by our actions sustained loss and pain, even as a recognised complication of a necessary procedure, can be exceptionally challenging. It is important to be able to
Baroness Cumberlege’s report describes suffering that was “entirely avoidable, caused and compounded by failings in the health system itself” and her report advocates for radical reform. Let us be forever proud of the response to COVID. Let us urgently examine the collateral
Dr Amanda Brown traded her relatively comfortable life in a village surgery for life in some of Britain’s most notorious prisons. However, The Prison Doctor is not just a description of how her two worlds differed.
If general practice becomes unsustainable, we will lose the most effective and efficient health service we have, and it will not be easily replaced. It’s time we involved GPs in the critical analysis of the holes in the system, before our capacity
So why am I more exhausted from a full day in practice when I have only seen four patients face-to-face, dealt with 30 or so patients over the phone and conducted a MS Teams practice meeting? The ambience around appears calmer –
Most clinicians will encounter cases of self-neglect during their career, which will vary from mild presentations to really disturbing cases where the self-neglect becomes extreme. What drives such behaviour and how do we manage it?
Described as the 'cornerstone of safe and effective practice', the physical examination has always been an integral part of what makes a competent GP. With recent evidence presenting a decline in GPs' physical examination skills over recent years, GP Simon Morgan reflects
The BJGP has been publishing brief reports on innovations on the BJGP COVID-19 Clinical Solutions rapid communications platform. There are now around 30 reports sharing good practice, new processes, and practical ideas to help improve care during the pandemic.
Navigating the daily deluge of new information relating to COVID-19 is a significant challenge for both patients and professionals. With alarming statistics released regarding the inaccuracy of much of this information, it falls to healthcare professionals to help distinguish credible sources and
Professor Donald Li talks us through some of the reasons, detailed in his editorial, co-authored with Chak-sing Lau, for the relative success of Asian countries in managing COVID-19.
When reading articles on digital innovation in the NHS audiences are finding that they need to update their editorial bingo ticket. Classics like culture change, interoperability or costs remain. But any self-respecting writer must now include something on how the NHS response
Evidence suggests that unemployment is associated with an increase in mortality and morbidity. In light of this evidence, Samar Razaq assesses whether a return to work could help to avoid an even greater disaster during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Might a headlong rush to implement ICSs erode the trust that those who have to work in and implement ICSs have for those who drive this agenda? When there is such fragility and strain across an entire service, a natural pause in
Professor Azeem Majeed from Imperial College in London talks through the current situation. New infections are much reduced and he discusses the track and trace programme that is now working, though not as well as we might like. Everyday practice is not
During the COVID-19 pandemic the UK government provided daily briefings, none of which have featured the opinions of behavioural or social scientists. While GPs continue to care for their patients, they must be supported and given the tools to assist their patients
Remote, quick, impersonal, call centre medicine is not general practice. It may work for a subset of patient queries, for minor ailments, but for the rest, understanding the patient's needs, perspectives and priorities as well as the context in which they live
