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BJGP Life

BJGP Life

The BJGP is the world-leading primary care journal. At BJGP Life we add multi-media comment and opinion for the primary care community.

An appreciation of Michael Boland

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).
26 May 2020
5 mins read

Australia’s response to COVID-19

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
22 May 2020
1 min read

Recognising the cognitive load of remote consulting

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
19 May 2020
3 mins read

Covid-19: Learning lessons from the deaths of our colleagues

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
18 May 2020
3 mins read

Video consulting: not just a consultation plus tech

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
15 May 2020
4 mins read

Update on smoking, asthma and COVID-19

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.
15 May 2020
1 min read

Communicating in the COVID-19 crisis

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
12 May 2020
3 mins read

What GPs need to know about Ramadan and COVID-19

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
11 May 2020
3 mins read

Dealing with COVID-19 in US family medicine

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.
11 May 2020
1 min read

#LookingAfterYouToo

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.
8 May 2020
3 mins read

The mental health care gap during COVID-19

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.
6 May 2020
1 min read

Rebuilding primary care — the danger of reinventing the wheel

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
5 May 2020
1 min read

Video initiatives from COVID-19

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
5 May 2020
1 min read

The Australian COVID-19 experience

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.
1 May 2020
1 min read

Domestic abuse in the time of coronavirus

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.
28 April 2020
2 mins read
2

The GP role in domestic violence during COVID-19

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
28 April 2020
3 mins read
1

Mortality, social inequality, and doctors on the front line

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
28 April 2020
1 min read

COVID-19 challenges for practice in North London

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
27 April 2020
1 min read

Language is our greatest weapon against COVID-19

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
22 April 2020
2 mins read

Family medicine in turmoil in the United States

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
21 April 2020
1 min read

Is COVID-19 the denouement for our sickening NHS?

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
21 April 2020
3 mins read

Richard Horton on primary care and the WHO

“This pandemic, and now the attack on WHO, is going to set countries back decades”. Richard Horton talks through the worrying impact on health systems throughout the world as WHO faces the prospect of losing 20% of its funding. He offers advice
20 April 2020
1 min read
2

The science of remote consultations

Professor Brian McKinstry talks us through the science of remote consultations and the findings of his research. Certain types of consultations, like ones related to mental health, are well suited to video consultation. He also talks about groups where there may be
17 April 2020
1 min read
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