GPs are often the first and last healthcare contact for those who die by suicide. Maria Michail shares news of an excellent resource to support both GPs and their patients.
If only there were interventions that reduce morbidity and frailty in the elderly! Helen Burn reminds us that there already are: exercise and social interaction.
The pandemic has given us all a taste of what socially isolated and lonely patients must experience year-in-year-out. Paul Beaney and Ruth Chambers describe a pilot project to see if Alexa Echo Show smart speakers could provide companionship for the lonely.
Hybrid conferences offer a reduction in environmental impact, allow those who cannot attend in person to attend virtually, and look more likely to be the dominant form of future conferences worldwide. Fraser Birrell, Terry Kemple, and Rob J Lawson review the effectiveness
General practice is ideally placed to introduce changes to become more environmentally sustainable. Dr Vasumathy Sivarajasingam shows, with primary and secondary research, that increased awareness of inhaler recycling among patients and better signposting from primary care staff may be sorely needed.
There is an important need for innovative alliances in the realms of public health and primary care, but how can we achieve this? Julia Darko gives us some key ideas.
Everything in general practice seems to have changed in the last year or so. So do we manage that change, or do we just feel overwhelmed by it? Joanna Bircher and colleagues report how they used a QI model to develop services
We all have elderly patients who are becoming unsteady on their feet, maybe a little lonely, or worried that the next step might be a Care Home. Here a relative tells us about a possible win - win situation that has benefitted
There are still almost 30 million unvaccinated adults in the UK, and younger adults may be more difficult to reach. Tadhg Crowley and colleagues share their experience of setting up a GP run drive through vaccination centre.
Anyone is vulnerable in a capitalist society if they have no access to the essential funds needed for survival. Perhaps Universal Basic Income, the system in which all citizens receive the same income regardless of employment status, could fill an important gap
Shireen Kassam and Laura Freeman have previously described the medical advantages of a plant based diet. Here they tell us about their own journey to start Plant Based Health Online, a commumity interest company that puts profits back into improving the health
The Clarendon Lodge Medical Practice had demonstrated the health benefits of regular exercise in a big way. Here's how.....
Point-of-Care Ultrasonography is an exciting new technology for primary care. It offers real potential, but Michael Tanael and Shari-Jean Hafner warn us to consider the balance of evidence and to proceed with caution.
The MHRA has clarified that the Oxford AZ Covid vaccine does not require a 15 minute wait by the patient following vaccination. Dr William Ridsdill Smith and colleagues describe an innovative proposal for a drive through Covid vaccination clinic.
Helping patients transition to a plant-based diet may not only prevent an estimated 11 million annual deaths, but largely decrease the damage to the environment caused by meat and dairy farming. Here, Shireen Kassam and colleagues provide a list of advice on
Smoke bombs in cars, Channel 4 film crews, and depositing rocks in car parks — this is the bizarre story of James Douglas's research into the development of PPE.
Finding all the problems of 2020 getting you down? David Jeffrey teaches us how to cope, using "Jugaad".
Physician Associates play an increasing role within of primary care teams. Ria Agarwal describes her own steep learning curve and tells us how PAs need to be supported.
COVID has taught us just how much care can be delivered over the telephone and video link. But what of patient safety, particularly for the frail elderly and patients with dementia in care homes? John Havard describes a useful new tool that
Are you constantly short of time? Charlotte Sidebotham encourages us to discover the slow movement.
Are GPs prepared for a future dominated by remote consultations? Ruth Chambers and her colleagues present results from their survey into the effectiveness of learning sets that help GPs to develop their video-consultation skills.
Holly Quinton describes the use of metaphor and drawing in consultations to improve understanding, compliance and rapport. This can help the GP to explain medical terms to a patient, but it can also help the doctor to understand the patient's experience.
When reading articles on digital innovation in the NHS audiences are finding that they need to update their editorial bingo ticket. Classics like culture change, interoperability or costs remain. But any self-respecting writer must now include something on how the NHS response
Ed Schwarz has just completed his GP training as an educational scholar in Cornwall and is now a GP in Penzance. Fed up of running late? Another patient cancelled last minute? Need to examine someone wearing 12 layers? If we are honest,
The Clinical Innovation and Research Centre (CIRC) at the RCGP works with GPs and practice staff, supporting them to deliver a better quality and level of care to their patients through a wide portfolio of projects. Find out more at https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research.aspx. Artificial
Steffan Gimblett of Pontardawe Primary Care Centre, Swansea was the winner of the inaugural Bright Ideas Awards in Wales. They produced a QR info pod for patients which contained links to all our online services, social media and relevant information about the
The NHS enters its 70th year with the general practice workforce in crisis. Paramedics already have a track record in providing flexible and innovative ways of delivering extended clinical care.
Darwen Healthcare came up with a plan to improve pre-diabetes care and won an RCGP Bright Ideas Award. The RCGP’s Bright Ideas initiative recognises that GPs and practice staff regularly see opportunities to improve their practice, and often do so by taking
Murray Ellender is a GP in south London, a partner in The Hurley Group and co-founder of eConsult. To mark the 100th anniversary of the invention of the telephone, the Lancet in 1977 published a discussion paper on the use of telephony
Bright Ideas is an online portal for innovative practice run by the RCGP Clinical Innovation and Research Centre (CIRC). The GP Specialty Training Department – Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) submitted this entry and it was one of the
Michael Poplawski is a GPST3 and author of “CSA on the Move – A Practical Audio Guide to the Clinical Management of Common RCGP CSA Scenarios”.
Cat Roberts is Clinical Lead GP involved in developing and delivering primary care services within an acute trust, including a GP-led frailty service You can read Cat’s first post: Challenging the norm: GPs as innovators here. I vividly remember one of my first
Cat Roberts is Clinical Lead GP involved in developing and delivering primary care services within an acute trust, including a GP-led frailty service Following a few years of basking in the ‘delicious ambiguity’ of general practice we returned to the hospital wards to
Kate Dawson is a full-time remote and rural GP on the Isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. At our staff night out, I slipped on a wet dance-floor, and in a moment, fell and became a patient. I couldn’t put any weight on my
John Porter recently completed his GP training and is enjoying living in Bath and working as a salaried GP in Bristol. There are items of equipment without which a GP in clinic cannot function. Top of this list comes a stethoscope. Closely
Perhaps I have had a run of bad experiences but I sometimes feel that our secondary care colleagues are beginning to act as technicians and not physicians, directing themselves to a particular task to rule in or rule out a particular diagnosis,
A great deal of medicine is education. The title ‘doctor’ is derived from the Latin word for teacher. Before getting that title, I spent three years working as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher: first in Spain, and then
Phil Wrigley is a Commissioning Manager in Islington where he has worked for over 12 years; he currently leads on LTCs and Self Care – prior to 2004 he was a professional actor for 25 years. There is a scenario frequently used
Ashika Sequeira trained on the Bromley GP Scheme and is a Locum General Practitioner. Alexandra Grove is an ST2 trainee in General Practice in the Tower Hamlets training scheme, East London. Vanessa Oo is a GPST2 in the UCLH GP training scheme. Work