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Showing results for tags 'GP'.
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News Article
GP Manish Shah guilty of sex assaults on 23 female patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Manish Shah preyed on cancer concerns to carry out invasive intimate examinations for his own sexual gratification, the Old Bailey heard. He convinced his victims to have unnecessary checks between May 2009 and June 2013. He was convicted of 25 counts of sexual assault and assault by penetration. Jurors acquitted 50-year-old Shah, of Romford, of five other charges. They were told afterwards he had already been found guilty of similar allegations relating to 17 other women, bringing the total number of victims to 23. Prosecutor Kate Bex QC told the trial: "He took advantage of his position to persuade women to have invasive vaginal examinations, breast examinations and rectal examinations when there was absolutely no medical need for them to be conducted." The NHS in London said it "extended sympathies" to the victims and added: "As soon as the allegations came to light, swift action was taken and we have supported the police throughout their investigation." Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 December 2019 -
Content ArticleThe medical symptom 'iceberg' and 'trivia' were defined in terms of people's own perceptions of their symptoms and their subsequent referral behaviour. The data were collected by household interviews of patients registered at a health centre and included information on personal and environmental characteristics. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to explore associations between those who were part of the symptom 'iceberg' or 'trivia', and factors which might have caused such incongruous referral behaviour.
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Content Article
Hospitals are rejecting GP referrals for investigations and outpatient treatment at an increasing rate. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning looks at the patient safety issues caused by rejected referrals and lack of capacity in outpatient specialities. We call for the government and NHS leaders to investigate the problem and take action to mitigate risks to patient safety. -
Content ArticleThis guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) covers frequently asked questions around prescribing in primary care and informs GPs of the BMA general practice committee’s policies in prescribing.
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Content ArticleRebuild General Practice is a campaign that represents GPs from across England, Scotland and Wales, to call for support to address the severe pressures currently faced by primary care. Rebuild GP is calling for Government action on: Recruitment: The UK Government delivering on its commitment of an additional 6,000 GPs in England by 2024 Retention: Tackling the factors driving GPs out of the profession such as burn out Safety: A plan to reduce GP workload and in turn improve patient safety This video shows highlights of a press conference held to launch the campaign. It features accounts from GPs about the pressures they face and how this is affecting staff and patients, as well as a statement from Jeremy Hunt MP, former Health Secretary. Dr Kieran Sharrock, deputy chair of the BMA GP Committee, calls on the Government to work with GPs to find a solution to the issues faced by primary care.
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Content Article
Blog - Why do I have to wait? (12 July 2021)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in GP and primary care
This blog by GP Dr Abbie Brooks examines rising patient demand for GP services and the need to manage patient expectations around appointment waiting times. It looks at the impact of the pandemic, and how patients can help primary care cope with increased demand by ensuring they are using the appropriate NHS service for their needs and being patient while waiting for initial and follow up appointments. -
Content ArticleThis article in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to develop a safety-netting intervention to reduce delays in cancer diagnosis in primary care. To develop the tool, patient representatives, GPs and nurse practitioners were invited to a series of co-design workshops. These workshops suggested the intervention format and content should incorporate visual and written communication specifying clear timelines for monitoring symptoms and when to present back. Participants also agreed that they needed to be available in paper and electronic forms, be linked to existing computer systems and be able to be delivered within a 10-minute consultation. The output of this process was the Shared Safety Net Action Plan (SSNAP), a safety-netting intervention to assist the timely diagnosis of cancer in primary care.
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Content ArticlePrimary care is a crucial part of every healthcare system, but the US spends less on primary care and more on specialty care than other high-income countries. The results of this are burnout, high staff turnover and physician shortages. These were all major problems before Covid-19, that have been worsened by the pandemic. In this episode of The Commonwealth Foundation's podcast The Dose, host Shanoor Seervai asks Asaf Bitton, MD, executive director of the health innovation center at Ariadne Labs, what it will take to rebuild the USA's broken primary care system.
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Content ArticleThis briefing by The Health Foundation Improvement Analytics Unit looks at recent data around patient preferences for online and face-to-face consultations and examines the impact of the increasing use of online tools on patient access to primary care. The Improvement Analytics Unit examined 7.5 million patient-initiated requests for primary care made using the askmyGP online consultation system between March 2019 and September 2021 at 146 general practices in England. These practices had a combined total list size of 1.35 million patients.
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Content Article
BMA - On the edge: GPs in despair (18 March 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in GP and primary care
This article by the British Medical Association (BMA) looks at the pressures GPs face that are leading to an increasing number leaving the profession. Several GPs from around the UK share their personal experience of unsustainable workloads and burnout, and the impact this has had on their health and wellbeing. The article highlights the impact of changes to the system on doctors at different career stages, including the increasing number of older GPs who are retiring early due to the intense pressure of their role. -
Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for BJGP Life, GP Chris Lowe explores potential problems with electronic access to primary care. He describes his own experience of e-consultation and warns of the potential of such technologies to make life harder for staff. He also raises concerns that rather than widen access to GPs, online access makes appointments less accessible for certain populations, and that introducing too many new technologies too quickly may cause experienced GPs to retire early.
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Content ArticleAdvice and guidance on the health needs of migrant patients from Ukraine for healthcare practitioners.
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Content ArticleThis research gives insights into the views of doctors who were previously practising in the UK but who are not currently doing so, in terms of their characteristics, motivations and likelihood to return to clinical practice in the UK. A survey of over 13,000 doctors was carried out between 21 January 2020 and 10 March 2020. This report was developed in partnership between the General Medical Council (GMC), Health Education England (HEE), The Department of Health (Northern Ireland), NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
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Content ArticleFocused practice is an approach to primary care where a family doctor or GP chooses one or more specific clinical areas as a major part-time or full-time component of their practice. In recent years, there has been a global increase in focused practice and a decline in offering a comprehensive scope of practice in primary care. This Canadian study in the British Journal of General Practice looked at factors influencing family doctors' decisions to work in focused practice. The authors of the study concluded that: both early-career and resident family doctors unanimously saw focused practice as a way to avoid the burnout or exhaustion they associated with comprehensive practice in the current structure of the healthcare system. more research is needed to understand the implications of family physician choices of focused practice within the physician workforce.
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Content Article'Deep End’ general practices serve communities in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. The analogy of the deep end of the swimming pool to describe how a one size fits all funding model for NHS GP practices regardless of area-based differences in patient needs leaves health professionals in high-deprivation places treading water to stay afloat. Lincolnshire’s East Coast is now amongst the most deprived communities in the UK. This in-depth article in BJGP Life reports on an event for local healthcare professionals and academic researchers hosted by First Coastal Primary Care Network (FCPCN) in November 2021, in Skegness, Lincolnshire. The aim of the event was to discuss the challenges that health professionals working within the FCPCN face with a focus on inequities and the experiences of the healthcare workforce.
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Content Article
Binge Eating Disorder GP Leaflet
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Eating disorders
This leaflet from Beat Eating Disorders is designed for people with binge eating disorder to bring to a GP appointment, to help them get a quick referral from their GP to an eating disorders specialist. It has guidance for the person with binge eating disorder, and a tear-off section for the GP. -
Content ArticleThis systematic review in the BJGP aimed to review literature published up to December 2020 on the prevalence of burnout among GPs in general practice, and to determine GP burnout estimates worldwide. The review found: there is moderate to high GP burnout around the world. substantial variations in how burnout is defined, which has resulted in considerable variation in GP burnout prevalence estimates. that this variation presents a challenge in developing a uniform approach that considering GPs' work contexts will allow better understanding and definition of burnout.
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Content ArticleAs Clare Gerada finished the final house calls of her long career in general practice, it struck her how detached she was from her patients now – and that it was not always like this. Where did we go wrong, and what can we do to fix it? she asks in this article in the Guardian.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for the British Journal of General Practice comment and opinion website, BJGP Life, GP Will Mackintosh discusses the impact of health inequalities on patients' ability to play an active role in their care. He calls for training for all GPs to understand the constraints and pressures that may be affecting their patients, so that they can better assess the causes of health issues and therefore treat them more effectively. The article examines concepts of freedom for both GP and patient, and argues that a purely evidence-based approach does not help patients from deprived backgrounds overcome health issues. The author highlights that GPs operate in a 'grey zone' between the medical and the non-medical, and argues that this means they are well placed to understand and help tackle the root causes of health disparities.
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Content ArticleThese free e-learning courses about communicating the potential harms and benefits of treatment to patients have been produced by the Winton Centre for Risk & Evidence Communication, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in the UK and the Australian Commission on Safety & Quality in Healthcare.
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Content ArticleThe General Practice: Health of the Nation report gives a unique overview of Australian general practice. The report reflects the experience of more than 1300 RACGP Fellows from across Australia, and incorporates information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Medicare, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and various government publications. The report provides information at a specific point in time and identifies longer-term trends across the general practice sector. The 2021 Health of the Nation report also highlights a number of critical issues affecting GPs and their patients, including: treatment of multimorbidities in general practice the increasing mental health burden on general practice restrictions to GP involvement in aged care barriers to the use of video telehealth services the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
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Content ArticleThis article in Social Science & Medicine examines how GPs and patients explore medical and existential uncertainty in consultations. The authors analysed 20 naturally occurring clinical consultations between general practitioners and patients in England, focusing on interactions and how they negotiated uncertainty. They found that the doctor-patient dynamic contributes significantly to the way in which medical uncertainty is discussed. By conceptualizing uncertainty in an indirect and depersonalized manner, GPs manage to safeguard against clinical errors without compromising their authority and credibility.
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Content ArticleThis cross-sectional survey in the British Journal of General Practice looks at the availability and use of emergency admission risk stratification (EARS) tools across the UK and aims to identify factors that influence their implementation. The authors identified 39 different EARS tools in use. They found that the most important factors in encouraging general practices to use EARS tools were: promotion by NHS commissioners involvement of clinical leaders engagement of practice managers. High workloads and information governance were significant barriers to their use. The authors highlight the need to align policy and practice with research evidence.
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Content ArticleContinuity, usually considered a quality aspect of primary care, is under pressure in Norway, and elsewhere. An association lasting more than 15 years between a patient and a specific GP reduces the probability of any of these factors by 25-30%, a study by Sandvik et al. found. The researchers said 'promoting stability among GPs' should be a priority for health authorities, and warned that continuity of care was under pressure.
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Content ArticleClinical guidelines advise GPs in England which patients need urgent referral for suspected cancer. This study in BMJ Quality & Safety used linked primary care, secondary care and cancer registration data to assess: how often GPs follow the guidelines on cancer referral whether certain patients are less likely to be referred how many patients were diagnosed with cancer within one year of non-referral. The study included patients who presented for the first time with blood in the urine, breast lump, difficulty swallowing, iron-deficiency anaemia and post-menopausal or rectal bleeding during 2014–2015. The authors found that the majority of patients presenting with common possible cancer symptoms were not being referred by GPs in line with clinical guidelines. They also found that a significant number of these patients went on to develop cancer within a year, and suggest that improvement is needed in the cancer diagnosis process.
