As the net zero agenda gains prominence within the health sector, NICE guidelines are still not providing clinicians routinely with material to help decision making, argue Emma Radcliffe and Sophie von Heimendahl .
Three years of war have tested the very limits of Ukraine’s healthcare system. Yet, they have also revealed an extraordinary capacity for resilience, adaptation, and innovation. As the war continues, investing in primary care remains essential—not only for health but for hope.
The incidence of throat cancer, particularly oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, is rising, with a worrying prevalence in the younger population. Callum Higgins and Paul McNamara examine the possible causes, and their implications.
This challenges the notion that clinical interactions should be structured according to a strict division between diagnosing disease and understanding the patient’s broader illness experience.
In the same way there is an unsettling parallel in the rise of obesity and ultra-processed food from the 1970’s onwards, the rise of faster and more invasive digital technology seems to link with a decline in mental health. Giles Dawnay discusses
What exactly is this smell of poverty? It is so pervasive. I recognise it in an instance. This perfume should be called “Deep End”, and it gives every encounter with poverty a visceral olfactory dimension. Jen Foell reflects.
If it is difficult to agree what exactly we mean by health, it is perhaps unsurprising that we also approach unhealth in a number of different ways. Ben Hoban reflects on the meanings of 'unhealth.'
Family medicine, by its very nature, often serves as a crucial counterpoint to the potential overreach of the purely biomedical model. Yuya Yokota reflects on the benefits of applied phenomenology to the GP consultation.
A recent House of Lords report puts the blame for rising obesity squarely at the feet of the food industry, stating that marketing of unhealthy food products has created an ‘obesogenic’ food environment. Nada Khan investigates the broken food system.
Despite the legal and professional requirements to treat individuals with SpLDs without disadvantage, alongside evidence supporting earlier diagnosis & supportive strategies, the Committee of General Practice Education Directors (COGPED) still do not recommend screening of GP Registrars (GPRs) at the commencement of
"The Deep End project demonstrates change can be made by practitioners working together to advocate for primary care to be at its best where it is needed most. As a professional group, we hold more power than we realise. If we do
"I have often relied on John Driscroll’s three ‘Whats’ when giving feedback on BJGP Life submissions and undergraduate coursework: What happened? So what? What now? I invite you to keep these questions in your head as you survey our articles. How will
High-quality GP conferences should raise their standards and report on their 'triple bottom line' — the economic, social, and environmental impacts and outcomes.
In the hope that we can reflect on not losing the foundations of medicine, but also hold with conviction the new tools that we have been given with which to help and to heal.
Perhaps we can characterise these two kinds of practice as representing either efficiency in providing a high volume of appointments or effectiveness in making each appointment count for more... Ben Hoban reflects.
A means by which participants can make some sense of their threads... And nurse the ends of their unravelled stories. The healing ...Is in the weaving.
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.
Perhaps it is my patient population, my personality or perhaps it is true of all General Practice, but I notice that nearly all my consultations touch on mental health in some way. Whilst reading the book, I have managed to accept the
"... we’re in a situation where we understand the importance of patient narratives, but if we talk about this in these terms to policymakers and even some of our specialist colleagues, we’ll be dismissed as chin-stroking hippies, unable to do proper medicine."
The thread that runs through the debate, however, seems to be a genuine desire on both sides to help people who are suffering, and the conflict between opposing views reflects not a greater or lesser degree of care, but rather the familiar
Doctors are repeatedly referred to in the proposed legislation, and they are clearly essential in delivering the assisted dying process, but has anyone really considered the impact on those doctors? GPs are arguably the most likely profession to provide assisted dying services,
GPs have a duty to be well-informed about the issues regardless of whether we are conscientiously pro, anti, or neutral. We anticipate publishing many articles around this topic, and the specifics of the bill, and we welcome the opportunity to ensure primary
The primary goal of BJGP Life and BJGP Life &Times is to develop a BJGP community — a virtual agora, the forum of classical times that translates across time and space as the debating room, the public house, the workplace coffee room,
Luke Sayers reflects on what the movie 'Gladiator' has to teach General Practice. We must win the crowd... before it's too late.
Kez has an embarrassing problem. He has tried a cream that maybe worked in the past but not now. He needs the doctor, he thinks. He rings the surgery...
In October and November 2024, Brian Lambert spent six weeks volunteering as a ‘medic’ at the Mavrovouni refugee camp on Lesvos, working for the Dutch charity the Boat Refugee Foundation (BRF).
Last year we shared some party games. This year I'd like to share a concept for conversation. You could share it or leave it in the background of your psyche as the news and issues of the day mingle with the miscellanies
"I couldn’t understand, however, no matter how much I trained, how much I addressed my diet (within the realms of my understanding at the time), and how much I addressed other lifestyle factors such as sleep, why I was the heaviest I
These cautionary tales are steeped in cultural lore and parental wisdom. However, they may not always be based in truth. We have lightly explored the evidence, underscoring that while such traditions hold value, a dose of scepticism often helps separate fact from
How we understand our story makes a difference to how we go about the job, how effectively we do it, and how it leaves us feeling when we go home... One of these proto-narratives is especially relevant to us as doctors: Overcoming
Rebalancing Medicine can seem an impossible task. This book describes, often from personal experience, how the political fashions of the last decades first facilitated and then debilitated the essential workings of the NHS. Richard Lehman reviews.
There is no doubt that general practice now is very different in almost every way compared to 20 years ago. But has enough been done over this period to ensure its longevity as a profession? Sarah Rishi makes the case for a
NHS, please help me to bring the energy not to cry but sing, Courage where there is fear, Hope in the face of all the sugar, fags and beer. Giles Dawnay gets lyrical.
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...
Mike Thirlwall fears that patients and family doctors may be steadily drifting apart and something very precious may be lost for ever.
"This is the article where I pick out some seasonal reading that is modestly sized and modestly priced such that it might fit in the standard proverbial Christmas stocking ..."
Aldabra Stifiuc-Andronic and colleagues reflect on the health implications of the cosmetics industry and public awareness of cosmetic ingredients.
12 months ago Richard Armitage used NHS Digital primary care appointment data to reveal the increases in GP workload from 2017 to 2023. What's happened in the last year?
"For the first time for many years I felt that I had lost control. Suddenly my comfortable Western privilege wasn’t working. I felt stranded, helpless, a powerless fragment of a distressed and angry crowd."
The science of medicine is a triumph of the intellect and has done immeasurable good. But applied to the individual in distress, it shows all its immeasurable weakness. Not all of David Spiegelhalter’s magnificent new book deals directly with this, but where