David Misselbrook was an NHS GP for 30 years prior to teaching medicine overseas. He is deputy editor of the BJGP.
Covid-19 has caused the worst international crisis since the second world war. Everything has changed. And NHS healthcare has most certainly changed.
But a well functioning primary care system remains the bedrock of any effective and efficient health care system.1,2 GPs know this because we have been providing exactly this for some time. We have seen some highs and we have seen some lows. And we are still here, even in this most extraordinary plague year.
Like many of us I have given more vaccinations in the last few weeks than in all of the rest of my career. Might there now be light at the end of the tunel? But what will the path beyond the tunel look like? What should it look like?
This is a good moment to reflect on our hopes and fears for the future. But perhaps especially our hopes. It would be great if the NHS could have a “Marshall Plan” for post Covid reconstruction. And if it did, how should UK General Practice be rebooted and developed after Covid?
BJGP Life is putting out a call for articles on the theme of “General Practice after Covid-19“. BJGP Life will be accepting articles on this theme over the rest of this month. During April we will publish the best.
BJGP Life is General Practice’s coffee room, a great place for discussion – we hope you will join in! BJGP Life is putting out a call for articles on the theme of “General Practice after Covid-19“. We will be accepting articles on this theme over the rest of this month. During April we will publish the best of them, and some should find their way into the print BJGP, thus into the medical literature. See https://bjgplife.com/contribute/ for guidance.
To send in an article please use our submission portal https://bjgplife.com/submit/ (there is no need to submit the preceding “pitch” form.) Standard length articles (up to 700 words) should normally have no more than 6 references. Long Read articles (up to 2,000 words) which deal with issues in greater depth should normally have no more than 10 references.
It is time to build our future. We, and your colleagues, are waiting to hear from you!
References
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Macinko J, Starfield B, Shi L, 2003. The Contribution of Primary Care Systems to Health Outcomes within Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries, 1970–1998. Health Services Research 38; (3) Pages 831-865. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.00149.
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Starfield B, Shi L, Macinko J, 2005. Contribution of Primary Care to Health Systems and Health. The Millbank Quarterly; 83 (3) Pages 457-502. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00409.x
Featured photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
