Andrew Papanikitas is Deputy Editor of the BJGP.
Britain has a number of quaint Christmas traditions. One is the great aural switch-on, when radio stations and shops start to play constant Christmas music — classical if you are lucky (there’s some variety), and if not then the same 70s and 80s Christmas hits over (and over) again until you are muttering, ‘Of course they know its bloody Christmas, because Band-Aid and Slade are on a repeating loop.’ A slightly less intrusive tradition (slightly more if you have children and every child wants their own) is the advent calendar, traditionally a large card with closed paper windows numbered 1–25 that open to reveal festive images, iconically from the nativity story. There are versions that contain a chocolate for every day and even wine, clearly designed to make things more interesting for the GP surveying your blood test results of a wintry evening.
“This issue comprises our very own advent calendar-mix of festive and seasonal offerings contributing to our mystery.”
A few years ago, I came across Julemysteriet (translation: The Christmas Mystery), an advent calendar in the form of a novel. It is a charming and surreal fantasy by Jostein Gaarder (author of Sophie’s World). Each chapter is a calendar day leading up to Christmas; it is about an advent calendar, the boy who buys it, its enigmatic creator, and a little girl on a quest through time and space. Each window of the calendar holds a little piece of a story, about a little girl chasing a toy lamb that has come to life in an Oslo department store, across the world and the centuries, towards the Christmas story taking place in Bethlehem. The calendar is itself a mysterious creation, a mystery that the little boy and his family determine to solve.1 Twenty-five years since its publication in 1992, It resonates with hope and meaning, a feeling I get when I read submissions to BJGP Life. You don’t have to throw the book away (pass it on), and it hopefully won’t derange your liver function tests. This issue comprises our very own advent calendar-mix of festive and seasonal offerings contributing to our mystery.
A season of (professional) good will
Academic publishing relies on the good will (as well as self-interest) of contributors and peer reviewers alike. David Misselbrook discusses his experience of submitting a clinically useful article to a prestigious journal, only for the more practice-oriented aspects to be removed at the insistence of peer reviewers.2 What is meaningful to the reader may not always be the same as what is prized by expert reviewers.
Ishbel Orla Whitehead returns from the WONCA World Conference with reflections on loneliness as a feature of primary healthcare careers, a predisposing factor in the global epidemic of poor mental health and wellbeing in healthcare professionals. As a profession, we need to understand that we are a vulnerable group to things like loneliness. If we shy away from looking at precursors to burnout such as systemic loneliness, we remain unable to find systemic answers to it.3 Saul Miller takes us into a fictional but familiar coffee room discussion as GPs contemplate an education meeting on neurodiversity and inclusion, exploring the gap between what’s on offer and what is needed.4
“Peace on earth and goodwill to all require security and shelter.”
Do they know it’s Christmas?
Do They Know It’s Christmas? is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The sentiment behind this song comes from a good place, but I find its title challenging. Christmas is not the only religious festival taking place during winter, and Christianity not the only world faith. Irrespective of religious holidays, people are trying to get by and to survive austere circumstances both globally and locally. Peace on earth and goodwill to all require security and shelter. Last year, Misselbrook reflected on how fragile that security could be as he tried to get home to his family.5 This year, Trevor Thompson reflects on I Shall Not Hate, a Gaza doctor’s autobiography and manifesto for medicine as an engine of peace. The book itself was given to him as a gift in response to discussions about the state of the world.6 Hirrah Syed reflects on the importance of shelter as not just a roof but also a home in her work with vulnerable, excluded, and often homeless patients: ‘That’s not to dismiss the value of treatment, but to acknowledge that, in some lives, the most potent prescription we can help facilitate isn’t 20 mg of citalopram — it’s a tenancy agreement.’ 7
Winter Wonderlands
Kerry Greenan reports on her Hippokrates Exchange in Askøy, Norway. She finds that patients know their GPs well, benefit from consistency of approach, and are understanding if they have to wait slightly longer, knowing from years of experience that their GP is there for them. This feels like a more traditional primary care model, one which is becoming rarer in the UK.8 Ben Hoban shares a submission on behalf of a visiting practitioner from the wintry north, who’s thinking of retiring and is seeking someone with similar values to take the reins, ‘someone who’s good with people and isn’t fazed by big dogs or messy living rooms, who can think on their feet and get things done without getting tied up in red tape’.9
“… whether you read with Bach, Crosby, Enya, or Slade … this month’s BJGP will offer something to think about …”
Seasonal miscellanies with CPD!
Reading is not just about curling up with a book or journal article, but about ideas shared and discussed — over a winter gathering perhaps? Alex Burrell offers a festive edition of Yonder, taking in wishbones’ efficacy (in granting wishes), gifts from patients, and Christmas Ozempic advertising.10 I also discuss six books to read, give, or talk about during the festive season. For the last couple of years we’ve had a BJGP tradition of reviewing some book-ish stocking fillers, books to give to those we love (and/or work with), books to read in quiet moments and on cold nights, and books to talk about at gatherings. It’s been another bewildering year on both a global and local level, and the selection reviewed reflects this. I am especially proud to mention Hoban’s new book, Looking for the Bigger Picture in General Practice, which originated in BJGP Life!11
The meaning of Christmas … music
A few years ago some local GPs and I used Children’s stories12 and then Christmas commercials13 (the ones that had a story) to reflect on our practice. I wonder whether we can do the same with festive pop music. ‘Last Christmas I gave you my heart. The very next day you gave it away’ has some promise, even as a reflection on the relationship between our profession and successive UK governments! And, whether you read with Bach, Crosby, Enya, or Slade, in the hubbub of a coffee shop, or in the quiet of a consulting room, this month’s BJGP will offer something to think about, and hopefully talk about.
References
1. Gaarder J. The Christmas mystery. London: Phoenix House, 1996.
2. Misselbrook D. Epistemic injustice: a tale of how not to be heard in general practice. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743793
3. Whitehead IO. Is loneliness the HPV of general practice’s burnout cancer? Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743745
4. Miller S. Mind the gap. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743817
5. Misselbrook D. A brief vulnerability. Br J Gen Pract 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp24X740205
6. Thompson T: Book: I Shall Not Hate. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743805
7. Syed H. It’s not the antidepressants, it’s the keys. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743721
8. Greenan K. Where continuity is key: primary care in Norway. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743769
9. Hoban B. Position vacant. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743757
10. Burrell A. Yonder: Wishbones, gifts from patients, and Christmas Ozempic advertising. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743781
11. Papanikitas A. Six books to read, give, or talk about during the festive season. Br J Gen Pract 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp25X743733
12. Papanikitas A, McKenzie-Edwards E, Starer R, et al. Storytime as a vehicle for reflective practice. Br J Gen Pract 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X719165
13. Papanikitas A, Salisbury H, McKenzie-Edwards E, Wilson R. Storytime as a vehicle for reflective practice: part 2 — the Christmas commercial. Br J Gen Pract 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp23X735717
Featured Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash
