BJGP Life – Page 9

Working in a refugee camp on Lesvos

In October and November 2024, Brian Lambert spent six weeks volunteering as a ‘medic’ at the Mavrovouni refugee camp on Lesvos, working for the Dutch charity the Boat Refugee Foundation (BRF).

26 December 2024

4 mins read

Stories

Written on a gravestone: a story of medical misadventure from 1869

"On their memorial it was recorded by the sculptor Mr Mills, that William died from 'erysipelas coming on after vaccination'. I have walked past this grave many times over the years: as a GP and occasional vaccinator it made me ponder. Those

24 December 2024

8 mins read

Random

Imaginary Medical Solutions

"So there I was, wondering what to do, when I noticed the shop next door. It had a flaking hand-painted sign announcing it as Imaginary Medical Solutions, and a window display that invited deep cleaning rather than curiosity."

23 December 2024

4 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

The GP athlete: what’s the best advice I can give to my patients about nutrition?

"I couldn’t understand, however, no matter how much I trained, how much I addressed my diet (within the realms of my understanding at the time), and how much I addressed other lifestyle factors such as sleep, why I was the heaviest I

21 December 2024

7 mins read

Book review

Book review: Shattered: a Memoir

"It is a humbling, funny, graphic, lewd, and humane account of the enduring will to live and to thrive." – Maryam Naeem reviews Shattered by Hanif Kureishi

20 December 2024

5 mins read

2

Opinion·Random

Seven cautionary tales we tell our children: a brief literature review

These cautionary tales are steeped in cultural lore and parental wisdom. However, they may not always be based in truth. We have lightly explored the evidence, underscoring that while such traditions hold value, a dose of scepticism often helps separate fact from

19 December 2024

6 mins read

BJGP·Research

Yonder: Prescribing and deprivation, delayed antibiotic prescriptions, pre-hospital antibiotics in sepsis, and differential attainment

Yonder is a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories beyond the mainstream biomedical literature.

18 December 2024

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Stories

Overcoming the Monster

How we understand our story makes a difference to how we go about the job, how effectively we do it, and how it leaves us feeling when we go home... One of these proto-narratives is especially relevant to us as doctors: Overcoming

17 December 2024

3 mins read

Arts·Stories

Crab Apples

Giles Dawnay captures the transition of autumn to winter in a poem about cancer.

16 December 2024

1 min read

Book review·Opinion

Rebalancing Medicine by Neal Maskrey

Rebalancing Medicine can seem an impossible task. This book describes, often from personal experience, how the political fashions of the last decades first facilitated and then debilitated the essential workings of the NHS. Richard Lehman reviews.

14 December 2024

4 mins read

Opinion

General Practice – time for an upgrade!

There is no doubt that general practice now is very different in almost every way compared to 20 years ago. But has enough been done over this period to ensure its longevity as a profession? Sarah Rishi makes the case for a

13 December 2024

3 mins read

Arts·Opinion

The Nurses Stare (based loosely on the Nurses Prayer)

NHS, please help me to bring the energy not to cry but sing, Courage where there is fear, Hope in the face of all the sugar, fags and beer. Giles Dawnay gets lyrical.

12 December 2024

1 min read

Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion·Stories

The Watling Walk: Nurturing wellbeing and camaraderie at Watling Medical Centre

The idea was simple: a short walk in the park to clear our heads, engage in light-hearted conversation, and bond with colleagues. Over the years, this practice has not only endured but flourished...

11 December 2024

3 mins read

1

Opinion

Just a thought

Mike Thirlwall fears that patients and family doctors may be steadily drifting apart and something very precious may be lost for ever.

10 December 2024

3 mins read

1

Book review

Book review: Intelligent Drug Prescribing in Psychiatry: Supporting the Patient–Prescriber Partnership

"In this thoughtful monograph, Peter Tyrer argues for a via media between the perspectives of those who consider drug therapy to be an essential element of psychiatric practice, and those who are concerned that the massive increase in psychotropic prescribing that we

7 December 2024

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Undergraduate

Reflections on the cosmetics industry: personalisation, health and advertising

Aldabra Stifiuc-Andronic and colleagues reflect on the health implications of the cosmetics industry and public awareness of cosmetic ingredients.

6 December 2024

5 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Bright Ideas and Innovation

Climate change and primary care: how to reduce the carbon footprint of your practice

"Reducing the carbon footprint of primary care has the potential to improve the health of our patients and communities, while decreasing workload and saving resources ..." – Michael Naughton and colleagues outline what GPs, partners, and local primary care leaders can do to

5 December 2024

8 mins read

1

Opinion

Pressure on GPs in England 12 months on: the trend continues

12 months ago Richard Armitage used NHS Digital primary care appointment data to reveal the increases in GP workload from 2017 to 2023. What's happened in the last year?

4 December 2024

2 mins read

Podcast·Videos

Christmas break, and a return in 2025 with a new BJGP podcast!

We're taking a break over Christmas - have a great holiday!

3 December 2024

1 min read

Opinion·Stories

A brief vulnerability

"For the first time for many years I felt that I had lost control. Suddenly my comfortable Western privilege wasn’t working. I felt stranded, helpless, a powerless fragment of a distressed and angry crowd."

2 December 2024

3 mins read

Book review·Opinion

The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck

The science of medicine is a triumph of the intellect and has done immeasurable good. But applied to the individual in distress, it shows all its immeasurable weakness. Not all of David Spiegelhalter’s magnificent new book deals directly with this, but where

30 November 2024

3 mins read

BJGP

‘Tis the season of the primary care miscellany

"Seasons greetings, dear readers! One of my favourite Christmas traditions is the miscellany, often found in little piles at the cashier’s desk in a bookshop. We have a suitably seasonal miscellany for you this December in a variety of genres! Some will

29 November 2024

5 mins read

2

Arts·Opinion

For Who Do You Serve?

For my attention is elsewhere... Occupied by a mere digital abstraction... The computer between us acting as a physical metaphor... A poem by Callum Leese

28 November 2024

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

The flood gates of asymptomatic prostate cancer screening

There is of course no nationwide prostate cancer screening programme for asymptomatic men at present; rather, men over the age of 50 are advised that they can request a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test from their GP at any time. Paul McNamara and

27 November 2024

4 mins read

1

Podcast·Videos

Episode 191: Getting ‘bang for your buck’ for good quality general practice, and why hybrid working leads to fragmented and inefficient care

In this episode, we talk about why hybrid working isn't always as efficient or accessible as it's meant to be.

26 November 2024

1 min read

Opinion

Integrated neighbourhoods post-Fuller: from vision to real-world impact

Integrated neighbourhoods are a collaborative effort of health and social care providers, as well as voluntary/non-statutory organisations, which aim to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and service users. Afsana Bhuiya, Seher Kayikci and Fahad Iqbal outline what we know about

25 November 2024

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Book review

Book review: The Undesirables: the Law that Locked Away a Generation

"This book is terrifying, informative, stimulating, and educating to every member of the medical and nursing profession. It is extensively researched, has a massive bibliography, and, most importantly, it is well written and well worth reading — in spite of some truly

23 November 2024

7 mins read

Random·Stories

Making it look easy

...none of this stuff is difficult if you keep in shape and know what you’re doing ... Bosco felt like she had been running her whole life, one way or another, and you might just as well have asked her to stop

22 November 2024

4 mins read

Clinical

Appropriate hormone replacement therapy dosing

"There has been recent media coverage around appropriate hormone replacement therapy (HRT) dosing, and subsequent focus in medical journals. The debate has become polarised and women's health is being impacted. I want to provide an explanation so we can all do our

21 November 2024

4 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Book review·Coronavirus·Opinion

Revisiting my book review for BJGPLife – a cautionary tale

Re-reading my review, I can tell that I was very careful even then not to present this approach as a 'cure' for Long Covid, but as a promising approach to manage symptoms better while waiting for a cure ... However, I have

20 November 2024

9 mins read

Podcast·Videos

Episode 190: What’s it like working in the Deep End Network in Northern Ireland? It’s challenging, but ultimately rewarding

In this episode, we talk about working in the Deep End network in Northern Ireland.

19 November 2024

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

The oversized influence of meat and dairy industry undermining climate action

For years, the UK has inaccurately perpetuated the notion that British farming is among the most sustainable globally. Shireen Kassam, Christelle Blunden and Matthew Lee argue why this is not so, and the impact this may have on public and planetary health.

17 November 2024

7 mins read

55

Book review

Book review: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

"If you only ever read one book about emotions, make it this one." –

16 November 2024

4 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Epistemic symmetry: a forgotten principle in medical philosophy

"The body does not generate the mind but is a process of self-localisation of the mind itself ..." – Armando Henrique Norman explores the usefulness of idealism as a valid philosophical principle to guide family physicians in their daily practice.

15 November 2024

7 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Book review·Opinion

Ivan Illich’s Medical Nemesis at 50

a book which has had the same impact on the language of healthcare as George Orwell’s 1984 has had on the language of politics. Illich did not invent terms such as iatrogenesis and medicalisation, but he was the first to synthesize them

14 November 2024

8 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·Stories

Broken Crayons Still Colour: A tale of trauma’s shadow over health and illness

Identifying the mind as a source of the body's pain can help a patient make great strides towards taking control of their health and reducing the impact chronic illness has on their day to day lives. Paul McNamara and Ella Butterworth explore

13 November 2024

7 mins read

Podcast·Videos

Episode 189: Looking at how people access (and can’t access) general practice – lessons to take into action

In this episode, we talk about access to general practice through the lens of the Candidacy Framework.

12 November 2024

1 min read

BJGP·Research

Yonder: Obesity care, maternal body mass index and childhood infections, frozen shoulder and diabetes, and locums

Yonder: a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories from beyond the mainstream biomedical literature

11 November 2024

3 mins read

Book review

Book review: Environmentally Sustainable Primary Care: Good for the Planet, Good for Practices, Good for Patients

"This is not a book to read once, skim, or leave on a shelf. It's both an introduction and a practical guide to taking action. It explains where we are today and what we need to do next. The best time to

9 November 2024

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Reflections on how best to integrate a Mental Health Practitioner (MHP) into General Practice

Clearly in some GP Practices no robust thought has been given to having a Mental Health Practitioner (MHP), or their role and scope of practice. Those GPs who have requested and take 'ownership' of the MHP, are best placed to integrate them

8 November 2024

4 mins read

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