Dr Giri Madhavan and Emma Reading talk about consulting with people who have learning difficulties and adapting to the use of video consultations.
New Zealand doesn’t always appear on world maps but the country has been centre stage during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to its success in flattening the epidemic curve. Here’s my take on New Zealand's COVID-19 journey to date, its impact on general
The concept of the family doctor has helped to create a false dichotomy: between medical science and technology on one hand and caring and compassion on the other. Yet those heralding the transformation of general practice should beware of what they wish
Dr Gordon Macdonald suggests practices with significant numbers of elderly patients should be considered as "Far End" practices to address the important challenges in this population.
Simon Morgan offers some little known facts about viruses with a handy mini-primer on virology to get you up to date (at least since that last lecture in medical school).
Michael Boland, who has died age 71 from Alzheimer’s disease, played a leading role in the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Irish College of General Practitioners and the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA).
Professor Michael Kidd is a GP and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Australia. He talks about their response to COVID-19 including the early decision to close their border and lockdown. They have tested a million people (4% of the population) and the number
Practising medicine was wearing me out. Trapped under referrals, a witness to patients' unsolvable tragedies and angered by poor funding, I had begun to question whether this was still my life’s work. My renaissance came in the most unexpected of ways.
Will the COVID-19 pandemic trigger the expression of HERV proteins in some patients and lead to the emergence of new diseases as it wanes, just as occurred after the 1918 flu pandemic?
Coronavirus is exposing and exaggerating deep inequities in our society. Even though it is clear that viruses do not discriminate, data from across the US and UK demonstrate that the neighbourhoods of colour are impacted differently by COVID-19.
Do you find remote consulting tiring? There is no argument about the current utility of remote consulting but we must recognise that we are thinking differently, and then to ask why and at what cost? We should explicitly recognise the effort in
Many GPs and NHS staff have died from COVID-19. Whether our colleagues contracted the virus at work or whether they were provided with adequate protection in their workplaces is, at present, not known. Without adequate investigations into these deaths, these questions will
The lure of new video consulting technology is enticing. Nationally recognised figures have even suggested that video consulting is just the same as a face-to-face consultation, but with some added tech at the beginning. It is not that simple. We publish guidance
Dr Nick Hopkinson is a respiratory physician from the Royal Brompton, London, and Medical Director of ASH and he joins Domhnall to talk about COVID-19 and smoking. The research suggests smokers are more likely to get symptoms and die due to COVID-19.
Whilst humanity has been on lockdown, air quality in major cities around the world has significantly improved. It is a chance to reflect on how we have allowed our air to become so dirty, and why it has taken a global pandemic
Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disturbance to primary care education for medical students across the country with GP placements being cancelled, it offers potential for long-term benefits.
As the UK COVID-19 lockdown came into force, medical students across the UK were sent home from their respective universities and teaching hospitals. Incorporating medical student volunteering into general practice can be of great benefit.
GPs know that communication is the glue that holds medicine together; from building trust to getting to the heart of a patient’s problems and working safely as a team. In the current COVID-19 crisis, effective communication has become even more critical. We’ve
Ramadan is considered an obligatory ritual for all healthy adults. Exemptions are given for those who are advised that they will come to harm due to an acute illness or from complications related to pre-existing chronic conditions. Some people may run into
Mark Cucuzzella is Professor of Family Medicine in West Virginia where African-Americans are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Mark talks about this work in the hospital and he is mindful of the need to keep "humanity and personal relationships" in clinical contacts.
NHS England has launched a new primary care initiative to promote resilient working in our teams, to enable us to stay well and maintain the frontline delivery of primary care.
I find myself now a GP questioning the war metaphor for COVID-19 and its relevance. What does it mean to be at war with a virus? As our metaphors both reflect and shape our experience, we would do well to choose them
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, Chair of BMA Council, discusses the extraordinary contribution of BAME doctors and other healthcare workers in the NHS who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
The many and varied consequences of COVID-19 are felt disproportionally by those with less resources, both external and internal. We would do well to establish Far End practices and networks akin to our Deep End siblings. We should reach out to the
Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham and Dr David Shier talk about the particular importance of primary care for people with severe enduring mental health problems. They discuss the gaps in care, as well as the opportunities, as we have moved to remote consulting.
The current pandemic has provided an incredible catalyst for change throughout health care, however, change for change’s sake will result in upheaval for staff, confusion for patients and unnecessary investment. By developing an exit strategy early, we can ensure, that general practice
Dr Sian Stanley is Clinical Director of Stort Valley and Villages PCN. She talks about the recovery from COVID-19 and symptoms people are experiencing. She also explains the videos they have been producing to help patients and doctors navigate the new COVID
We anticipate that after the pandemic, the modus operandi of general practice will be changed, for the better. Once the dust has settled, the lessons learnt from remote consultations should be communicated to the next generation.
Professor Clare Heal from James Cook University in Queenslands talks about the impact of COVID-19 in Australia. The overall response has been very effective and included some contact tracing using a smartphone app, though there have been some privacy concerns.
These screens are not intended for use by caregivers and should not be recommended for use by them. Their objective is the same as that of the surgeon in the operating room: to avoid contaminating the environment. This is a paradigm shift
On the 14th March 2020, the emergency plan for family practice started in Belgium. Primary care networks are already proving that they have an added value through communication of relevant news, fostering local peer review and creating the sense of belonging to
Three weeks into the job the thing that keeps me awake at night are the vulnerable patients at risk of domestic abuse confined in their homes. Primary care is the common ground that these patients cross most frequently.
When we finally emerge from the current pandemic, more women and children (throughout the world) will have suffered from and be experiencing the consequences of domestic abuse than ever before. Therefore, during this COVID-19 lockdown and afterwards we need to stay alert
Professor Azeem Majeed from Imperial College talks through COVID-19 mortality and concern about indirect deaths. He puts forward his view that people in their 60s should be taking extra precautions — which raises concerns about older healthcare professionals returning to the frontline
Australia now has one of the flattest COVID-19 curves in the world, one of the lowest death rates. Maybe much of our success is based again on luck. The response of the government to the epidemic was initially a little lethargic, but
Josephine Sauvage is a GP and chair of a north London CCG and she talks through some of the challenges facing practice including death certification in the community, particularly with elderly patients who may present atypically, and the ongoing concern around accessing
What does it mean to be human? Philosophers and scientists alike have struggled since time immemorial to capture the vastness of the human experience and answer this very question. Let us start with the fundamentals — we are a primate. Not the
Dr Tom Round is a GP in Tower Hamlets and a researcher at KCL, London. His research looks at GP referrals and their impact on mortality and stage of disease at presentation. There are now over two million '2 week wait' referrals
Professor John Frey tells us about the reorganisation of primary care in the US and the shift to remote consultations. Practices have been closing as they have lost revenue and 34% of practices in the country may not be financially viable as
At the time of writing the government and the NHS are reeling from the dramatic suddenness of a contagious crisis for which we are largely unprepared. Within a few days the necessary perspectives and needs of public health have prevailed: autarkic NHS