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Opinion

The acceptable stimulant

"One morning, while happily sipping my aromatic coffee, a colleague looked over and remarked, 'You do drink a lot of coffee'. I dismissed the comment immediately. 'Surely not,' I thought, 'I'm well within the recommended daily caffeine intake.' Or was I?"
3 September 2026
3 mins read

The meaning of joy

Joy is apparently not simply the passive absence of burnout, but a proactive presence of purpose, autonomy, safety, belonging, equity and camaraderie. Emilie Couchman explores the possibilities.
29 August 2026
5 mins read
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Reading the meter

On the other side of the desk was someone I could only describe as grey. I’m not talking about their clothes or hair, or even their skin colour, although in fact it was oddly difficult to put a finger on any of
24 August 2026
5 mins read

Desire Paths in Patient Care

Desire paths in primary care, are those informal, patient-driven routes through services that emerge outside of prescribed systems. They highlight the importance of communication skills in shaping access and experience.
19 August 2026
1 min read
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Nine to Five

And yet, somehow, work — the thing that most adults spend the majority of their waking hours doing — often gets treated as an afterthought. A background detail.
18 August 2026
8 mins read
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Dr Valdez is coming

‘Morning, friend. How do you like our new médico? He only got one kind of medicine, but he ain’t too proud to take it himself, a real man of the people.’ Henry nodded cheerfully at the young man, then looked more seriously
11 August 2026
8 mins read

When patients disappear between systems

When patients are deducted following boundary changes or service reorganisation, who confirms continuity has been successfully re-established elsewhere? Are current systems sufficiently equipped to identify patients who fail to reconnect with care following deduction from a practice list?
10 August 2026
3 mins read
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When good doctors fail exams

One lesson many trainees learn too late is that medicine cannot be our entire identity ... Because when our entire identity depends on our performance, every setback becomes a crisis.
6 August 2026
4 mins read
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Overheard at a possible future cafe

Ursula le Guin wrote a book called Changing planes in which the mind-altering properties of airports enable bored passengers to travel to other planes of existence, but independent coffee places work well for me.
5 August 2026
6 mins read
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So much universe, and so little time

I am frequently dismayed to hear that reading in general is another activity that is being put off until retirement, along with painting, or dancing, or learning about medical ethics. Well. This month we bring the universe to you.
31 July 2026
4 mins read

Healthcare at street level

Our job is certainly clinical, although in terms of the skills that make it distinctive, it perhaps resembles more those of teachers, social workers, and police officers than others in healthcare.
20 July 2026
4 mins read
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Medical tourism: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Medical tourism doesn’t reduce NHS workload. It splits it. The funded, planned, well-resourced part of care happens elsewhere. The complications, the uncertainty, the chronic follow-up land back in general practice. Without warning. Without resource. And without anyone having agreed to it.
9 July 2026
4 mins read
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