Involve doctors in NHS purchasing decisions to get best value care, say MPs
The NHS should involve doctors in decisions about buying medical goods and equipment so that…
Category: General practice / family medicine, UK
Helen Salisbury: Practising at the top of your licence
Doctors in every branch of practice grumble about time wasted trying to fix malfunctioning printers…
Helen Salisbury: Ensuring the safety of physician associates’ practice
Since 2015 the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has hosted the Faculty of Physician Associates….
Rammya Mathew: Could artificial intelligence be the key to transforming general practice?
In the recent budget Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, announced £3.4bn of additional capital…
Tackling poverty should have equal priority with lowering waiting lists, says King’s Fund
Poverty is taking a heavy toll on the UK’s health and NHS services, and tackling…
Helen Salisbury: It’s time to push back against the destruction of general practice
Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing general practice wrong. So many consultations not only take…
Plans for same day GP access hubs in London are scrapped after concerns
NHS North West London has rowed back on plans to impose same day GP access…
Same day GP hubs: How will they affect access and continuity of care?
What are same day GP hubs?North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) has said it…
GPs in England express dismay at “final” 2.23% contract offer
NHS England’s plan to impose a deal offering a 2.23% funding increase for GPs this…
GPs in England express dismay at “final” 2.23% contract offer
NHS England’s plan to impose a deal offering a 2.23% funding increase for GPs this…
Helen Salisbury: Blurring the boundaries of the medical profession
The updated 2024 version of the General Medical Council’s guidance document Good Medical Practice came…
Helen Salisbury: Tales of the unexpected
Not long ago, a surgical colleague told me that all the patients attending his outpatient…
End decades of primary care policy failures, says think tank
For decades successive governments have consistently failed to deliver on promises to make England’s health…
Helen Salisbury: Levelling down general practice
General practices in northwest London have been told by their integrated care board that they…
Scarlett McNally: We need to talk money to retain our NHS
It used to be considered impolite to talk about money, but times are tough. Poverty…
Helen Salisbury: Pharmacy First and the new GP contract offer—moving deck chairs on the Titanic
Finance isn’t really my specialty, but even I can work out that an uplift of…
Rammya Mathew: Prescribing isn’t a single act—getting it right requires time and effort
Despite working as a GP for close to 10 years, I still find it astonishing…
GP wins appeal against suspension over remote treatment of patient during pandemic
A GP who was ordered to be suspended from the UK medical register for six…
GP contract: Practices at risk of closure unless 1.9% offer is improved, warns BMA
Many general practices will be at risk of closing down or face “awful choices” over…
UK needs urgent plan to protect health during heatwaves, MPs warn
The UK government is underprepared to deal with the deadly impact of heatwaves and must…
Helen Salisbury: Primary care networks in a tangle
When primary care networks (PCNs) were first set up in 2019 they were envisaged as…
NHS England cuts national GP retention schemes in favour of local “support”
NHS England has announced that two general practice retention schemes will end in March, in…
Helen Salisbury: Other presences in the consulting room
It isn’t unusual for a third person to be in the room when I’m consulting….
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Rammya Mathew: We risk creating a lost tribe of GPs
For the past 10 years the general practice workforce has been flooded with locum GPs….
Helen Salisbury: How the duty of kindness could suppress legitimate debate
Good Medical Practice is a guide produced by the General Medical Council (GMC) that sets…
GPs in Scotland reȷect call for “fully salaried GP service”
General practitioners in Scotland have rejected a call for a “move to a fully salaried…
Valproate prescribing rules will tighten from January, says MHRA
From January 2024 valproate must not be started in new patients aged under 55 unless…
Helen Salisbury: Training in the medical model
There’s been much discussion in the press and on social media about the role of…
Rise in people found dead and decomposed suggests breakdown of support networks, say researchers
Researchers have raised concerns over the increasing number of people in England and Wales whose…
Chancellor is accused of “deprioritising health” in autumn statement
Directors of public health have urged UK ministers to do more to improve health in…
Partha Kar: Sorting out the mess around medical associate professionals
The whole situation around medical associate professionals (MAPs) is an unqualified mess. What had been…
“Work limiting” health conditions affect 3.7 million people in UK, analysis finds
One in eight people currently in work in the UK have a “work limiting” health…
UK regulator approves “groundbreaking” gene treatment for sickle cell and {beta} thalassaemia
UK regulators have approved a “world first” gene treatment for treating sickle cell disease and…
Helen Salisbury: Prescribing and the multidisciplinary team
Although some general practice consultations end in simple advice or referral, most result in prescription…
John Launer: Twilight and sunrise in primary care
One evening this summer I found myself at a traditional wooden inn in the Japanese…
Rammya Mathew: Is the GP’s professional opinion no longer valued?
Our practice manager recently asked me and my colleagues to review a list of patient…
Helen Salisbury: Where the buck stops
General practice is often promoted as a place where holistic care is offered. In our…
GP trainee who did locum shifts while receiving {pound}10 000 in sick pay is suspended for nine months
A GP specialty trainee who claimed nearly £10 000 in sick pay from one NHS…
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Helen Salisbury: Is this just normal for my age, Doctor?
We slow down as we age. Most of us become less fit and less flexible….
Wales GP contract negotiations break down
Contract negotiations between the Welsh government, NHS Wales, and BMA Cymru Wales’s General Practitioners Committee…
Helen Salisbury: How will medical apprenticeships work?
You may picture an “apprentice” as a young lad (the word has yet to shake…
David Oliver: Did the Labour conference offer hope for the future of health and social care?
From 1997 to 2010 the Blair/Brown Labour government saw sustained improvements in the NHS. By…
Patients in more deprived areas of Scotland get less contact time with GP staff, study finds
Patients attending general practices in more socioeconomically deprived areas of Scotland get significantly less contact…
Scarlett McNally: Challenging the government’s new strategic framework for maȷor conditions
The Department of Health and Social Care’s new Major Conditions Strategy1 starts strongly, detailing how…
Helen Salisbury: Playing to our strengths
Way back in the last century when I was a newly qualified doctor, I spent…
John Launer: Living with uncertainty
I was recently invited to talk to a group of GP registrars about uncertainty in…
Helen Salisbury: The weight of emotions
Patients bring many things with them to the consulting room. Some we’re expecting, including their…
Scarlett McNally: In praise of part time doctors
After decades as a full time surgeon, during which I didn’t go to a dentist…
Helen Salisbury: A cool welcome for management consultants
General practice is in crisis, and clearly something must be done. Funding has shrunk from…
John Launer: Screen encounters and false impressions
I recently had an unnerving experience. I met someone I’d seen several times before, and…