Putting aside the questions of who will do this additional work... and where the money to enable it will come from, there appears to be a potential role for AD plasma biomarkers in primary care...
The idea that we can learn from our mistakes until we eventually stop making them is beguiling and clearly contains some truth. It also obscures a larger truth, however...
The winning papers reporting research utilising a range of methods, highlight a range of clinical problems (insomnia and IBS) and highlight important system phenomena (patient safety and continuity), providing learning for the next generation of doctors, including GPs.
Tudor Hart’s warnings of what might happen in the health system from 2010 reach us in 2024 in the form of accurate predictions. Read this book if you’re interested in better clinical care, better health policy and a better society, even if
"... this platform of online case-based discussion allows doctors a safe space to develop and discuss cases seen by them in their clinical practice, thereby obtaining constructive feedback from experienced educators as well as peers."
What do I need to understand to commission and work with systems for healthcare that involve automation, machine Learning and artificial intelligence, in an ethical and trustworthy way? This briefing outlines some key principles for healthcare stakeholders.
Amongst the changes, you may have missed the decision to cease funding the newly qualified GP fellowship program.
Richard Armitage reminds GPs to think about medications prescribed outside the primary care setting especially when thinking about new symptoms, changes to medication or medication reviews.
Ben Hoban reflects on the necessity and risks of reductionism in medicine. The tension between parts and the whole is a necessary part of whole person medicine
What can we do in primary care to prevent cardiovascular complications of pre-eclampsia? Rebecca Wheater provides a number of suggestions ...
Is it better to think of patients as a body and a mind, or as a single entity that has both physical and conscious attributes? Alistair Appleby invites us to reflect.
Newly-qualified GP John McCullough seeks wisdom from established GP and rural medicine lecturer Tim Sanders. It feels like a tough time to enter General Practice – has it always been this way?
The Appleby review is ostensibly a response to claims made on social media that there has been a substantial increase in suicide rates in current and recent patients of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.
"I asked ChatGPT to write me 100 words on the potential uses of AI in UK general practice, and it instantaneously churned out the above. I am simultaneously amazed and terrified!" Paul McNamara ponders the role of AI in his professional lifetime.
The inappropriate transfer of work from secondary care in particular is a well-recognised problem which seems difficult to address. Ben Hoban wonders if this reflects a broadly political change in the goals of British healthcare.
In the second of two articles on NHS funding formulae, Rodney Jones looks at trends in death and the implications for cost pressures on the NHS. Why can’t government funding take into account the well-established nearness to death (NTD) methodologies, ending the
"Non-medically qualified practitioners of medicine are not new. One may look at two spectacular examples of the contribution by these colleagues, Hamilton Naki and Mamitu Gashe ..."
Peter Toon and colleagues call on the new UK government to re-evaluate the market-driven ethos in which the NHS has been managed. Is a new GP Charter overdue?
Here, Rodney Jones looks at the allocation formulae that distribute money and resources to England’s Integrated Care Boards. He examines the hidden assumptions behind the formulae and asks why nearness to death has never been incorporated into the calculations.
The whole of modern general practice in the UK rests on both the electronic healthcare record and networked services for requests and results. Brendan Delaney reflects on the Crowdstrike outage of July 19th 2024
Paul McNamara and Yoosuf Ibrahim argue that is imperative for GPs to highlight the increased risk of overdose associated with street valium use, given its unpredictable composition, to individuals struggling with drug dependency. Additionally, efforts should be made on disseminating knowledge about
If all we have to offer are platitudes and cures, we will be stuck forever trying to eat the elephant in the room, a possibility in theory, but rarely in practice. If we can understand and engage with our patient’s point of
How has increasing workload impacted on GPs, and our sense of providing safe care to our patients? Nada Khan finds that research into workload and safety suggests an association between wellbeing, burnout and patient safety.
"Health is whatever helps me to travel hopefully within and between my story-strands." Paul Thomas describes this as Community-Oriented Integrated Practice (COIP) – a way of thinking & acting that facilitates local collaboration for health and care.
"In the dynamic landscape of healthcare delivery, South Asia stands at the forefront of transformative change, particularly in the realm of family medicine. This article explores and elucidates the diverse models of family practice emerging across the region ... "
Plans to include PAs in general practice have been recently challenged with a recent Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) call to halt additional recruitment and deployment of physician associates. The RCGP position is based on results from a recent survey of
As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated and accessible, it is important for GPs to engage with this technology, argues Marcus Lewis
Stories entertain us, but on a deeper level, they also help us make sense of our experience; they are cultural vectors, transmitting the values and wisdom of one generation to the next. The proper use of power is a common theme in
The recruitment and retention ‘crisis’ in general practice is far from being resolved, and it risks being seriously exacerbated by a lack of jobs in general practice.
"People living with long COVID symptoms should be encouraged to seek support from primary care, and primary care clinicians must be responsive to patient need." - Carolyn A Chew-Graham and colleagues provide a summary and analysis of long COVID patient care, presenting
Misselbrook masterfully uses the tools of philosophy to explain to us how we think the way we do, how we can think more clearly. In a political climate dominated by polarising and often poisonous rhetoric, bullshit-detection skills are the least of what
Critical realism offers a theoretical framework that reflects what wise clinicians instinctively know: medical disorders do not always arise as single events at molecular or cellular level but can be generated at one, or multiple levels, of complexity through numerous contributory factors:
David Kernick explores two models that offer insights into the concept of healing, here taken as a facilitation of the body's intrinsic ability to restore optimum functioning: allostatic control and complex adaptive systems.
Most jobs now involve a screen and being online. "What does this new reality do our minds and brains?" is a question yet to have enough evidence to answer. However it is fast becoming clear that we are no happier or healthier
A 'potteres-que' educational experience? Elke Hausmann reviews a long running Saturday course in the history of medicine run by one of the UK’s historical medical institutions.
Reducing medicine wastage requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, and yields returns in terms of finance, well-being and the environment. Vasumathy Sivarajasingam explains.
David Law offers a positive experience of physician associate deployment at his practice, including how the practice accommodated the need for supervision.
...the very same addictive nature of gaming that keeps people sedentary can be harnessed to promote health through the concept of gamification. Gamification is defined as “...the use of game design elements in non-game contexts...” and is used to enhance engagement, motivation,
To be fit for work, a person must be capable of more than simply carrying out in isolation the tasks required by their role: they must be able to do so repeatedly, to a consistent standard, and in a way that represents
GPs are in the firing line of efforts to reduce sickness certification. The UK government suggest that the responsibility for issuing fit notes could be moved from GPs to specialist occupational health professionals. Nada Khan unpacks the issues.