Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. This week I recalled a study day that I went to some years ago. Suitably interactive, involving a variety of teaching styles and fully addressing a personally relevant learning need, it was the best
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. Judy Garland’s was not a happy life. Last weekend I went to see Renée Zellweger in ‘Judy’. It’s a remarkable performance in a film that portrays Judy Garland towards the end of her tragically
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. There’s a scene in Stan and Ollie, the film about Laurel and Hardy when towards the end of the film, Hardy says to Laurel: “I’ll miss this when we’re gone”. He speaks the words,
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. General practice – the story so far: Last week many of us tried to satisfy our appraisers by proving that we had met their unilaterally determined and arbitrarily applied indicators of satisfactory professional development.
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. Not so long ago, a school uniform committee was set up at the local educational establishment frequented by my children. Predictably enough, though nobody seemed to have a problem with the previously requisite attire,
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. It is a truth universally acknowledged that fast and cheap won’t be good. Because good things take time to mature – they come about slowly. Be it a fine wine, a meaningful relationship or
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. Recently The Guardian, and others, reported that doctors were alarmed that an online test which estimated cardiological health revealed that 78% of adults had a heart age older than their chronological age and were,
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. Like the one whose taste in music veers consistently and increasingly away from societal norms and thus is destined to spend too much time sat in darkened rooms accompanied only by an empty bottle
“All men seek happiness, this is without exception”. So wrote Blaise Pascal in his Pensées. But despite his assertion, and our best efforts, too many of us, it seems, find only sadness. In such circumstances we may well feel useless, but that's
Aristotle had it right when he asserted in his 'Metaphysics' that 'Those who wish to succeed must ask the right preliminary question'. More than 2000 years later, doctors would do well to listen to his advice. Before adopting each and every new
The professionalism of general practitioners continues to be undermined as increasingly we are treated as naughty children who need to be brought into line. We need to make collective decisions on how to practice based on what we know as GPs to
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. GP practices are closing at an alarming rate with more and more GPs abandoning the profession as workload rises exponentially and recruitment continues to struggle to keep up with the number of
On the eve of the 1997 election, the year I became a GP partner, Tony Blair declared that the nation had ’24 hours to save the NHS.’ Twenty years on, like those who advised the emperor who paraded about town in his
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. This week I’ve received some good news. I’ve been ‘liked’ by the GMC. Well I say liked, I mean of course ‘revalidated’ but it comes to the same thing. I posted a few comments
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. It’s a confusing time for the NHS. One minute there’s talk of if being ‘weaponised’ like some all consuming superhero, the next it’s being sent to bed with no supper for causing all those
Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset. Is it just me or is being a GP increasingly being portrayed as something for which one ought to be ashamed? If so, then perhaps we should consider if we need some help. With