Category: Coronavirus

Public Health England’s two reviews on disparities in COVID-19 failed to address the significantly higher proportion of ethnic minority healthcare workers who tragically died from COVID-19, and provides no detailed road-map to tackle these inequalities in the future. Reflecting on these uninspiring reviews, GP Carter Singh asks ‘so what now?’

The vulnerability and medical complexity of our care home residents means their clinical care is often challenging. However, with the emergence of COVID-19, the scale of this challenge has increased significantly with primary care support becoming predominantly remote and care homes asked to take more clinical responsibility than they have previously.

We had to create a monster. A monster so huge, and so terrifying that we were sufficiently motivated. So, we the shielded, are being asked to move from essentially no risk, to an undefinable, unguaranteeable low risk situation. I am immensely thankful to be considering moving back home, but I am fearful, apprehensive…

Well-respected epidemiologists predicted, from the outset, that the societal, economic and psychological harm from the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdowns was likely to be far greater than the perceived risk of death. However, such views were lost in the narrative of fear that predominated the early discussions on the matter and treated like an Orwellian thoughtcrime.

Immediate action is needed to consider how we deal with the surge in ‘hot’ paediatric patients this winter. We need to make it clear to parents that GPs and A&E are open for business and create a safe, easily accessible system by which children can be seen face to face to minimise any risk of increased harm.

The BJGP has been publishing brief reports on innovations on the BJGP COVID-19 Clinical Solutions rapid communications platform. There are now around 30 reports sharing good practice, new processes, and practical ideas to help improve care during the pandemic.

Navigating the daily deluge of new information relating to COVID-19 is a significant challenge for both patients and professionals. With alarming statistics released regarding the inaccuracy of much of this information, it falls to healthcare professionals to help distinguish credible sources and challenge misinformation.

Evidence suggests that unemployment is associated with an increase in mortality and morbidity. In light of this evidence, Samar Razaq assesses whether a return to work could help to avoid an even greater disaster during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the UK government provided daily briefings, none of which have featured the opinions of behavioural or social scientists. While GPs continue to care for their patients, they must be supported and given the tools to assist their patients with the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 so as to enrich patient lives.

Remote, quick, impersonal, call centre medicine is not general practice. It may work for a subset of patient queries, for minor ailments, but for the rest, understanding the patient’s needs, perspectives and priorities as well as the context in which they live is fundamental for providing safe, person-centred care.

In the current COVID-19 pandemic, many (including world ‘leaders’) have been tempted to abandon the ideas of evidence based medicine of needing clinical trials to justify the use of treatments. This is a mistake.

COVID-19 has all but ensured that primary care will never quite be the same. This includes the way in which we care for our nursing and care homes. It is important that we take the positives from the virtual ward round that was forced upon us, and adapt our practice in the future so that we can continue providing the best healthcare possible for our patients.