A really, really, long book, but it is hard to see what could be cut from it without losing some of the meaning. So, my one-line summary would be “Modern life is toxic to our physical and emotional health and here is
Crispin Fisher is a full time GP partner in Herefordshire. He lists what partnership entails. Readers are welcome to add, challenge or embellish his ideas in the comments.
The ARRS is a big step change for how practice teams work to manage their patients and appointments, and it’s naïve to think that implementation of such a wide-ranging scheme wouldn’t have significant impacts and unanticipated consequences for the wider workforce.
Richard Armitage investigates Medwise.ai, an 'AI tool' that claims to empower practitioners with informed decision-making, adherence to guidelines, quick access to answers, and a reduction in burden on GPs for supervision. But are these claims anywhere near the reality?
In this episode, we talk to Dr Garth Funston about pre-diagnostic patterns prior to bladder and renal cancers.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to download the latest updates in your sleep and go to work knowing that you were fully NHS-compliant, and without having to dodge any of those awkward questions about Segawa Syndrome? It certainly feels as
"Nexus is a powerful, brilliantly acted film [...] about the impact of COVID-19 on young people's mental health, eating-related coping strategies, and the power of social connection. I recommend sharing it with colleagues, patients, and their families."
nappropriate transfer of workload can go both ways, and it can feel highly frustrating for GPs and hospital specialists alike. But as patient care becomes increasingly fragmented, thinking locally about how to improve collaborative care might help build back those relationships across
Hyperreality describes this tendency for symbols to come adrift from what they represent, and for the distinction between the two to be lost, so that it becomes unclear which is real, and what we should expect from our dinner. We can see
In this episode, we discuss a French RCT looking at ways to better diagnose COPD in practice.
The RCGP is again also calling for a merger of the general practice and specialist registers. What’s the background to this, and what might it mean to rebrand GPs as consultants?
With the combination of a global pandemic, cost-of-living crisis and the Government’s austerity measures, over the last few years rates of DA are thought to have increased significantly. Paul McNamara and Anna de Natale reflect on how general practice should respond.
Studying the history of emotions is arguably one of the most important topics for understanding contemporary life, which becomes clear as you traverse this book ... we can use the insights ... to understand what we actually mean by emotions and trace
Domestic abuse remains a largely concealed phenomenon. It affects healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially women, nurses, and those working in low- and middle-income countries, at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. Vasumathy Sivarajasingam asks us be mindful of its causes and effects.
In this episode, we speak to Professor Katharine Wallis about safe antidepressant tapering.
David Mummery reflects on the professional and political waste land faced by UK general practice and on 'The Waste Land' by TS Eliot
As we approach the end of another year, it’s worth reflecting on Christmases affected by Covid-19 and what we might learn from them as clinicians and as people.
Researchers conducted a study that looked at the feasibility of recruiting those with an AF diagnosis who had recently experienced a bleed to collect QoL data. Here, they provide reflections on the experience of recruiting patients to the study over lockdown via
In my 20 years of studying medical generalism, I have seen advanced generalist medicine designed out of medical practice, teaching, and healthcare policy. So, in response, I now lead and help deliver work to restore and reclaim the wisdom of general and
In this episode, we speak to Dr Georgia Richards about private prescribing for opioids.
Billed as ‘seven steps to save general practice and safeguard our NHS’, the manifesto reflects the policies the RCGP believes political parties need to take on board to ‘save’ general practice ahead of the next general election. Nada Khan does some unpicking...
This poem by Kathleen Wenaden is the one she doesn't want to write. It is one that 'needs to be written, deep down, lived'.
I remember the early days when I wanted to transition. Before I could be referred to a gender clinic, I was required to see a psychiatrist to be assessed that I did not have a mental illness. I refused to see a
Peter McNelly is a mental health nurse and David Fowler is a practice manger in Northern Ireland. They argue that mental health practitioners can be a valuable addition to the multidisciplinary team, if sensibly recruited and deployed.
Naomi Craft and Sue Morrison trained in end of life coaching in 2015, delivering workshops between 2016 and 2020 exploring loss, mortality, and the self in both personal and healthcare contexts. Here, they describe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the
In this episode, we speak to Dr Monica Molinaro about the moral distress experienced by family doctors.
Richard Armitage tasked Claude-2 (an AI chatbot) with summarising the updates in the General Medical Council's Good Medical Practice 2024. Within 10 seconds Claude had provided a concise, extensive, and reliable summary ...
"... van Tulleken destigmatises obesity." - Hana MO Elhassan reviews Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
For something that should be completely unthinkable in our workplace, it is a disturbing truth that sexual misconduct is rife within the NHS. Nada Khan investigates.
When we talk of doctor and patient, we instinctively see both as very separate groups, but stripped back of language and assumed meaning, there ultimately sit two human beings in the same space. The person sitting in the chair telling their story
The General Medical Council’s requirement in its updated guidance Good Medical Practice for doctors to be kind has caused some consternation. How does being kind fit into a professional framework, and is it a luxury or a necessity? Ben Hoban reflects.
In this episode, we speak to Dr Sharon James about raising awareness of interconception care for women between pregnancies.
Richard Armitage pits three AIs against each other to see which performs the best when subjected to MRCGP-style examination questions ...
This would mean exploring the ideas of Israelis and Palestinians at mass level, listening empathetically and impartially to concerns from both sides, and establishing the realistic expectations of each cohort. A fair, kind, and honest approach...
As a GP, do you consider yourself the living embodiment of practical virtue? Or just an ordinary doctor struggling to do a decent job for as many hours as the day provides? You could argue that there is really no great difference
People with chronic pain need personalised care – an approach offering patients choice and control over their mental and physical health, basing care on what matters to them personally, and focusing on individual strengths and needs. It is possible.
Chris Bird and colleagues held a workshop in March 2023 with parents, paediatric nurses, GPs, paediatricians, and engineers to identify problems associated with measuring oxygen saturations in infants and young children in primary care. Here they present their findings ...
The Prime Minister has proposed new legislation to end cigarette sales to those born on or after 1 January 2009. Is the proposed smoking ban as good an idea as it seems?
In this episode, we speak to Mr James Bailey about socioeconomic differences in uptake of FITs.
In her poem, Kathleen Wenaden describes the inequality she sees in her Hackney practice. She considers too burnout and the strain of working in general practice. But is there nevertheless some positivity to be found here?