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Opinion - Page 11

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Discontinuity of care and patient safety

We know (from that research) that higher continuity is associated with lower mortality rates, reduced healthcare costs, higher patient satisfaction, safer prescribing and reduced hospitalisations.  But what about patient safety incidents? Nada Khan investigates
15 January 2024
5 mins read
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Jean Baudrillard against the Post Office

Over 4 million people watched the first episode of Mr Bates against the Post Office when it screened on New Year’s Day. And suddenly things started to happen. David Misselbrook reflects on what this might mean for British medicine...
10 January 2024
2 mins read
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Grieving for a lost Christmas cake…

In a world of immediacy and impermanence, my two cards and lonely box of chocolates earn a particular significance. They emphasise the humanity that is still possible in General Practice despite the need to count, measure, and capture everything – a connection
7 January 2024
3 mins read
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Going the extra mile

"The extra mile is a problematic concept. If everyone goes the extra mile, do we lose sight of which miles are extra? If we are to embark on our quest then the readings in this month’s Life and Times help us to
29 December 2023
4 mins read

Shifting sands

"After a storm, the sand shifts. Amazing volumes appear and disappear from areas of the beach. Dunes are sliced away, leaving sand-cliffs. Others newly appear. Rock and the keel-spines of old wrecks are exposed that I never knew lay there at all.
28 December 2023
3 mins read
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Alone: General Practice

...while the risk of bear attacks or frostbite is substantially lower than in the popular namesake television series, GP trainees face a range of similar challenges as their TV counterparts – isolation, uncertainty, a steep learning curve, and genuine fear.
21 December 2023
4 mins read

Normalising exploitation

I left a job today. It was a good job with good people, which is always hard. It’s so much easier to leave when the interpersonal environment is toxic. It’s difficult when colleagues are deeply collegiate, but the structure is exploitative.
17 December 2023
4 mins read

Medwise.ai, and what AI in general practice will really look like

Richard Armitage investigates Medwise.ai, an 'AI tool' that claims to empower practitioners with informed decision-making, adherence to guidelines, quick access to answers, and a reduction in burden on GPs for supervision. But are these claims anywhere near the reality?
13 December 2023
4 mins read

Being human

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to download the latest updates in your sleep and go to work knowing that you were fully NHS-compliant, and without having to dodge any of those awkward questions about Segawa Syndrome? It certainly feels as
11 December 2023
3 mins read
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Framing the debate: Race-based requests in medicine

...requests for race-based concordance is a complicated area of medicine, and it is one that is not easily dealt with through formulised policies. Instead, well-reasoned judgements by the care team through a deliberative process, that begin with ethical frameworks, might provide a
10 December 2023
7 mins read
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Workload transfer in the NHS: The Great British Dump

nappropriate transfer of workload can go both ways, and it can feel highly frustrating for GPs and hospital specialists alike.  But as patient care becomes increasingly fragmented, thinking locally about how to improve collaborative care might help build back those relationships across
8 December 2023
6 mins read

Reflections on Covid Christmases

As we approach the end of another year, it’s worth reflecting on Christmases affected by Covid-19 and what we might learn from them as clinicians and as people.
25 November 2023
3 mins read
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Electioneering and the RCGP Election Manifesto

Billed as ‘seven steps to save general practice and safeguard our NHS’, the manifesto reflects the policies the RCGP believes political parties need to take on board to ‘save’ general practice ahead of the next general election. Nada Khan does some unpicking...
20 November 2023
5 mins read

Sexual safety in the workplace

For something that should be completely unthinkable in our workplace, it is a disturbing truth that sexual misconduct is rife within the NHS. Nada Khan investigates.
10 November 2023
5 mins read
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Patiently waiting

When we talk of doctor and patient, we instinctively see both as very separate groups, but stripped back of language and assumed meaning, there ultimately sit two human beings in the same space. The person sitting in the chair telling their story
9 November 2023
3 mins read
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Having ‘Mental health’

The way we talk about mental ill health can end up creating a linguistic black box which we see but cannot see inside. How then can we know what to expect from our distressed patients, and how best to help them? Ben
30 October 2023
4 mins read
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Flourishing at work

Kathleen Wenaden looks back at the struggles and successes of her Hackney practice, and of how the work of the staff interweaves with the lives of the patients. She considers too the reinvigorating power of creativity and nature as ways for GPs
29 October 2023
8 mins read
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Tired all the time

I don’t know the answer. But I think I’m feeling the same. I’m exhausted, but I won’t tell you that. It’s a conveyor-belt of emotions. Next customer please! Except this is not transactional. You have a story, and it’s my job to
26 October 2023
2 mins read
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