Nick Wooding offers some football-inspired reflections on good general practice as a team sport.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Miranda Pallan about how to address child weight issues in the consultation.
Alex Burrell thanks Ahmed Rashid, and takes in papers on email consultations, ethics rounds, and medical elective fees
Train-tracks approaching the horizon appear to converge, although in reality, they remain equidistant. UK General Practice finds itself on a train journey along tracks which seem to do the opposite: the further down the line we look, the more they diverge. Should
"What Nicky Winton had once done was save the lives of 669 children, for whom he arranged air and rail journeys to the UK after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. As it happens, one of the children he saved was my
Investigations themselves can throw up results that are difficult to interpret, and they may reveal abnormalities of uncertain significance. To highlight these issues to our patients would constitute more ethical practice, would foster greater patient empowerment, and could result in a frame
I found this an inspiring, uplifting play about one of my heroes – the Welsh firebrand and father of the NHS, Aneurin “Nye” Bevan – vividly brought to life by another Welsh hero, the actor Michael Sheen.
With the weight loss effects of semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonists so widely reported in the press and social media, it’s not just people with obesity and weight-related comorbidities that are asking about it. But ask they will, so what we can
In this episode, we talk to Dr Susan Moschogianis about the patient experience of online consultations.
Why Can’t I See My GP charts an ever- changing medical speciality. From the times where GPs practiced in their own homes, to the NHS crisis we face today, Cumbrian GP Dr Ellen Welch takes us on the journey of our National
I first read his 2014 book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies five years ago, which convinced me that the risks which would be posed to humanity by a highly capable AI system (a ‘superintelligence’) ought to be taken very seriously before such a
I’m running late, the daily mantra of a working GP ... I’m running late, not an uncommon sight to see ... I’m running late, stuck behind a tractor on my commute ... I’m running late, the laptop has some updates to compute.
The clinician who has seen the patient has now “off-loaded” their uncertainty on to the broad shoulders of the GP who has to now carry this “surrogate uncertainty” along with all their other worries for the day. It is true that GPs
In this episode, we to Laiba Hussain about user personas and marginalised patients access to general practice.
GPs feel they are increasingly managing increasingly risky mental health patients, with rising frustration that their referrals are being rejected. Just as in general practice, CMHT teams are facing their own challenges in not having the workforce or capacity to meet those
You may recognise the frustration and anger that surface when resources run short; fractures in infrastructure become apparent; staff are scarce, undertrained and approaching burnout; protocols written by distant bureaucrats fail to reflect the realities you are seeing on the front line;
Having... been ‘critiqued’ for writing in too-detached a style, I was intrigued to see how a creative writing approach would change the process of reflection. As part of a self-selected module in ethics education, I took part in a one-day course on
The safety to ask about racism is helping me to change some ingrained false beliefs and this book has been another answer to my awkward questions. It has highlighted a history that I am disappointed not to know before.
In this episode, we talk about best practice for post-hospital asthma management in primary care.
"In this article, we offer four perspectives from patients and healthcare professionals with the aim of reminding ourselves of the challenges faced by some of those affected ... "
"While a free press is vital to hold those in control of public services to account for their performance, and media coverage of A&E pressure might helpfully deter patients without a relevant clinical need from attending, media coverage — particularly that with
"I remain fascinated by, and grateful for, the excellent research that sheds light on all aspects of our work and the lives of our patients. As I hang up my pen, I take this opportunity to tip my hat to all those
In this episode, we talk to Dr Patrick Burch about experiences of continuity in extended access clinics.
Lavina Sakhrani-Clarke learns how to be ill and the importance of recovery.
...cognitive bias sustained public faith in the medical profession long before doctors had the tools to truly alter the course of an illness. These forces did not disappear the moment that working therapeutics arrived - meaning we remain enthralled by own salves
Seventeen per cent of UK households experienced food insecurity in 2023, with cases of rickets, scurvy, and malnutrition on the rise. Are we facing a revival of Dickensian-era diseases?
‘Wherefore’, meaning ‘For what reason’, is one of the most fundamental questions we must ask in medicine. Tasneem Khan applies this idea to trauma-informed care.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Shoba Dawson about prescription medication sharing behaviours.
Is there 'One Big Thing' that GPs do? Or does it emerge out of all the things that GPs do?
Nurse Bernadette Millwood, in the final year of her career, is interviewed by her daughter Dr Sinead Millwood, a newly qualified GP in the first year of hers. What can we learn about primary healthcare going forward into the future?
Ian Dunt has written an easy-to-read explainer about how our UK Government is supposed to work and how it actually does work. To show the archaic ways of working and perverse incentives that are the operating mechanisms, he strips the system down
"Healthcare professionals are being increasingly asked to consider referral for genetic testing. While for the majority with an abnormal finding, curative treatment is not currently possible, having a disease with a name can provide relief and allow for more targeted supportive measures.
Is general practice the platypus of medical specialities?
Medicine: Right Idea, wrong science? Should critical realism be the new science of medical practice?
Alistair Appleby introduces critical realism as a philosophical foundation for medical science and primary healthcare
In this episode, we talk to Dr Cathy Morgan and Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham about early signals for bipolar disorder in primary care.
Do the ARRS roles lead to GP clinics filled with increasing complexity, and what are the other contributory factors? Nada Khan looks at the evidence.
Alex Burrell reflects on the moral agonies of planning an early GP-career
Mavin Kashyap shares key practice insights from a specialist community healthcare service for asylum seekers and refugee (ASR) adults.
"We wish to share the story of an innovative digital intervention that has helped to overcome existing divisions by creating a vibrant interdisciplinary network of learning and health activism. We describe how a few family physicians created a virtual community on WhatsApp
For the record, plenty of elderly patients have excellent lifesaving care, are well looked after, and speak highly of the exemplary care and attention they had in hospital.
However, hospital isn’t always the best place for them. Let me explain why I believe