I had the pleasure of attending the Accurx Connects conference, where an announcement was made that Swedish automated scribe company Tandem had partnered up with Accurx to provide an integrated AI ambient scribe for GPs, compatible with electronic patient records systems...
Carolyn Chew-Graham and Sohrab Panday discuss how we can better support each other in primary care in the aftermath of a patient's suicide.
"This article will remind readers of the benefits of these technologies to health care and public health, before drawing attention to the harms of AI to human wellbeing."
In a data-driven healthcare system, the accuracy of clinical and non-clinical values, as well as diagnostic coding entered into records, is crucial for delivering appropriate and timely care. A cautionary case study inviting audit and discussion.
"The Music and Mental Health Project [aims] to sensitise family physicians, other health professionals and managers, as well as patients and their families, to the transformative power of music as a tool for care in psychosocial suffering."
Heidi, Annie, Tali, Suki, Lindy. These were the grammatically feminine names of electronic scribes being presented by a grid of entirely male CEOs or company representatives. Shier Ziser Dawood unmasks some Stepford Scribes.
We consider teaching medical ethics in conflict zones to be an act of solidarity and a profound commitment to addressing global health inequities. By nurturing ethical reasoning and fostering collaboration, initiatives like this play a crucial role in rebuilding resilient healthcare systems
Primary care has been identified as the stage in the skin cancer pathway with the greatest potential for the use of AI to increase early detection. Richard Armitage raises some issues.
By recognizing the fundamental similarities in our approaches, we can move beyond semantic battles and focus on what truly matters: genuine connection, active listening, and meaningful support for patients.
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...
"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
...let’s talk a minute about what needs to happen so that the development and use of something like a patient passport can be done in a meaningful and inclusive way. It seems right that we talk about it here, as primary care
Clare Ellison and Ursula Philpot introduce The Children and Young Peoples Eating Disorder Decision Tree tool, which aims to assist time-poor clinicians with patients presenting with restricted oral intake, crucially differentiating between patients with body dysmorphia and those without.
GPs across the country will be no strangers to the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on health. In areas of deprivation already suffering from health inequalities, we wanted to understand the additional burden from the recent cost-of-living crisis and how this affected
Reverse mentoring benefits not only the student experience but also alleviates some of the pressures on GP tutors, who are held accountable for meeting both patient and systemic expectations.
"... 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.
The Ealing Borough Primary Care Team has implemented measures to address DA, aiming to raise awareness and dismantle stigma among staff and patients. Vasumathy Sivarajasingam shares insights from the Ealing approach.
Hana MO Elhassan argues we should minimise health disparities through cultural competence. A good starting point is developing better awareness of common skin and hair care practices within various ethnic minority populations, and appreciating their clinical significance.
Effective public health campaigns need more than posters and TV ads about going to see your GP. We need to get key community influencers in the team if we are going to have any impact whatsoever. John Havard argues that barbers have
"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 ... "
Against a backdrop of armed conflict and geo-political instability, medical education becomes a daunting challenge. Safiya Virji highlights a web-based resource which can be used offline.
I think in the past I might have sneered at the idea of spending a few hours with performing artists when we had a busy job to get on with, and a never-ending to-do list to work through. But just ploughing on
...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,
The Prescribing lifestyle medicine mental health and trauma course was something I cautiously signed up for... Upon arrival, I was amazed at the gathering of surgeons, GPs and nurses alike, ready to hear Dr Gabor Maté , hosted by Dr Ranjan Chatterjee,
Our distinct expertise in advanced generalist medicine, together with our extended experience in the community healthcare context, defines the expertise that we bring to a consultation process, argues Joanne Reeve.
Richard Armitage's reading about Chalmers’ proposal of two distinct Problems (the capital is deliberate) of consciousness sparked an analogy in the domain of human health...
Thinking, Fast and Slow is a detailed summary of much of Kahneman’s influential work spanning numerous academic disciplines which has real-world impact across various professional and personal domains. Richard Armitage explores Its relevance to general practice.
Alex Burrell thanks Ahmed Rashid, and takes in papers on email consultations, ethics rounds, and medical elective fees
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
Alistair Appleby introduces critical realism as a philosophical foundation for medical science and primary healthcare
"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
Pattern recognition by AI is already overtaking humans in many diagnostic fields such as radiology and cytology. Large language models are doing the same in communication, dialogue and processing human-generated text. Here we present their potential within primary care using four broad
Richard Armitage visits the wild frontier of LLM-powered commercial health apps and reflects on three examples: ElliQ, MMGuardian and WHOOP Coach
In 2020, Bevan secured funding to implement a Starting Well programme. Their aim was to empower women and their families to improve the outcome of future generations by optimising their physical, psychological, and social wellbeing prior to conception.
Drawing inspiration from Brazil, Cornelia Junghans, Matthew Harris, and Azeem Majeed suggest building a community infrastructure of trained and paid Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHWWs) who work with GPs, community services and local authority.
Ahmed Rashid muses about surgical site infection, opioid dependence, racial diversity, and 'Meals on Wheels'
Richard Armitage predicts how AI can transform clinician-patient consultation.
The Lancet declares that “generative AI is not an author”, and dictates that “these tools should only be used to improve language and readability”. But are these statements – the first a factual claim, the second a normative assertion – entirely true?
