Stephen Opare-Sakyi argues that GPs should see patients as whole people, but should be seen as whole people as well - by governments, patients, and each other.
John Launer muses on what Mozart's Magic Flute can teach us about family medicine
Arthur Kaufman reflects on intergenerational tensions from the older British citizen's perspective. It is easy to see these being implicit or even explicit in the consultation.
Richard Armitage argues that COVID-19 booster campaigns are a golden opportunity for health promotion, which could decrease COVID-19 effects and have wide benefits as well. Commissioners take note!
Consultations about relationships prompt Bhupinder Goraya to reflect on the consultation relationship - could 'beginner's mind be the answer?'
Austin O'Carroll argues that the label of personality disorder is inappropriate and harmful to patients who have suffered adverse social environments in childhood. By simultaneously ignoring social causation and denying the possibility of therapy the diagnosis perpetrates a systematic injustice against those
As notice-boards overflow with helpful advice, are we entering an age of extreme wallpapering? Madge McClary argues we should stem this tide for the sake of all!
As workload pressures squeeze the consultation times, Rubia Usman writes an open letter asking patients to remember that their GP is human too
Media images of mask-wearing healthcare staff rarely depict primary care. A facet of the existential crisis facing general practice is that of identity. As it stands, it feels as if GPs have been judged in pseudo-absentia. Sati Heer-Stavert calls us all
Over the last 18 months, anyone with any opinion, be it a politician or a journalist, has had something to say about general practice. Samar Razaq considers the roller coaster ride of unreason.
Yvette Pyne has taken a tour of the beautiful city of Paris just before Christmas. No, not the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and shopping, but refugee squats as a medic for a charity providing medical assistance to asylum seekers in France.
'Knowledge work' is the work that clinicians do to find, create, and use knowledge in everyday clinical practice. Annabelle Machin and her colleagues explain the role of the WISDOM project.
Are we now facing increasing discrimination and prejudice against the elderly? Madge McClary speaks out for a generation.
Generally speaking, we like to consider medical practice as a matter of hard science rather than opinion. Bhupinder Goraya also invites us to treat disagreement with kindness.
Increasing money and training to refuel our weakening and unstable NHS healthcare workforce may be necessary, but it is certainly not sufficient. David Zigmond tells us why.
The Financial Times appears to suggest that family doctors may no longer be needed. Nick Berry probes the realities behind the headline.
The last 2 years have demonstrated that disease and mortality does discriminate by postcode, but some argue the ‘inverse care law’ is an ideological stance rather than a medical issue. Daniel Butler and Nigel Hart add to the debate over the question
Have you ever looked at a cloud and seen the likeness of a cartoon character? This phenomenon is known as pareidolia. Laura Amarin and Camille Gajria tell us about pareidolia in medicine.
How many times a day are we hearing the ‘R’ word in our lives? The request of healthcare staff to be r*******t at a time when primary care is assaulted daily by the British media and those in power is an insult.
Hannah Milton shares her experience of compassion fatigue following being both a mum and a GP at the same time. She shares how she not only recovered, but how her recovery has left her now better able to empathise with patients.
The climate and ecological emergency is nothing less than the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. With the meat industry being the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases could the best option to save our planet be the mass transition to a
Giles Hazan reflects on his experience of high dose opiates following surgery.
The development of multi-disciplinary teams working as part of the primary care team alongside GPs in Northern Ireland is both new and untested anywhere else in the UK. Peter McNelly tells us about Northern Ireland's experience.
Cutting the doctor out of the diagnostic loop is often not such a good idea. Chris Ellis reminds us of some basic truths......
Case presentations based on a problem-oriented system can function as a medium through which medical students gain a disease-focused viewpoint. Koki Kato and Junichiro Miyachi suggest that to change our viewpoint we should change our language.
Whilst COP26 storms above our heads, all we can do is buy electric and put out the recycling - right? No! Shireen Kassam and Laura Freeman give us compelling evidence of a win-win for ourselves and the planet.
Zakariya Goga reminds us that our legacy, wherever we work is woven in the fabric of our community and will be palpable for generations to come. So do not validate yourself by external references. Validate yourself from within.
Rubia Usman is a female GP from an ethnic minority. Her message is simple: "If you work hard and you are a woman you have the power. More power to you. This is (y)our time!"
Irresponsible journalism creates a false narrative with the public. We are seeing patients! Kasun Theivendran questions whether we need to introduce a “how to deal with unfair blame” module into the GP curriculum.
Social media uses "persuasive technology" that has real effects on mental health and social wellbeing. Richard Armitage calls us to identify this as an urgent public health problem
A significant percentage of GP2GP transfers are not being successfully completed. Nigel Masters explains that a failure to get this right soon will see significant degradation of primary care medical notes.
Under the Additional Roles Reimbursement scheme, 26 000 roles are being funded to create bespoke multidisciplinary teams in primary care. But is there a risk that these new roles will only exasperate those for whom they were set to rescue?
Nobody wants to be greeted or processed in an uncaring and clinical manner. Sue Thurlow suggests that our motto should be "Compassion First", not "Digital First".
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is not a medical assessment, an incorrect assumption often claimed by politicians. Mo Stewart discusses the negative and sometimes catastrophic consequences for the disabled.
Has a reduction in face to face appointments meant a change of vision for UK General Practice? Richard Pratt argues that our vision is unchanged, it is our methods that have had to change.
Being a GP is a great vocation. But what if we have two vocations that may conflict? Anupma Parihar reflects on juggling her work and family commitments.
Last year the Lancet predicted ‘Substantial increases in the number of avoidable cancer deaths in England’ as a result of diagnostic delays due to the pandemic in the UK. Jenny Stephenson discusses some of the issues involved.
Is the concept of the patient as an 'inconvenience' a pernicious aspect of the hidden curriculum of medical school and postgraduate training? Nathaniel Aspray tells us his story.
Our current system is not OK. Day after day, my clinic is full of people struggling to cope with their mental health needs. So what is going wrong?
Following the BMA vote to withdraw opposition to physician assisted suicide the possibility of doctors being expected to be involved in hastening their patients' deaths looks closer. Claud Regnard and his colleagues discuss some of the practical issues involved.