BJGP Life – The home of general practice and family medicine

Latest

Diving back in

8 June 2026

So it took a few months to get back, agree to a few locums, then actually turn up and dive back in. Only then have I been able to decide how I still feel about medicine. And the answer has surprised me.

Self-defence: A myth busting guide to immune health, by Daniel M Davis

...our immune system is a complex and story-laden set of ideas with implications... Naturally, all manner of amusing and occasionally annoying myths abound. There is 'healthy' and enjoyable approach to immunity in this book.

6 June 2026

Reflections from the EASO primary care obesity masterclass, Vienna 2026

Sally Howlett attended the 2026 EASO primary care obesity masterclass in Vienna and brings back some useful insights for everyday practice.

5 June 2026

Building neighbourhood care in East and Central Brighton: A structural tension at the heart of PCNs

Their ambition was clear: to create networks of local practices to help tackle the social determinants of health, whilst sharing infrastructure and staff... In practice, that ambition collided with the daily realities of workload, estates, funding constraints and the operational

4 June 2026

Opinion and Clinical

Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion

Building neighbourhood care in East and Central Brighton: A structural tension at the heart of PCNs

Their ambition was clear: to create networks of local practices to help tackle the social determinants of health, whilst sharing infrastructure and staff... In practice, that ambition collided with the daily realities of workload, estates, funding constraints and the operational pressures of

4 June 2026

Clinical·Opinion

Against interpretive drift in the ten-minute consultation

Moments like this are small and easily missed, yet they can change the trajectory of care. They show how interpretation can drift away from the patient — and how a single disconfirming question can pull it back.

3 June 2026

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 233: Seeing skin differently: Eczema, acne and psoriasis in skin of colour

In this episode, we talk about recognising common skin conditions in skin of colour.

2 June 2026

AiT·Opinion

AI detection in GP training – A hidden burden on supervisors

As generative AI tools become more powerful and accessible, concerns about the authenticity of reflective writing are growing. Can we recognise AI‑generated text? How do we know whether a reflection is truly a learner’s own thinking?

1 June 2026

Editorial comment·Opinion

Don’t be a reverse centaur!

A reverse centaur is a person who has been conscripted to serve as a helper for a machine, at an inhuman, machine pace ... many of the articles coming through BJGP Life extend this idea into medicine.

29 May 2026

Opinion·Stories

The gatekeepers and the wizards revisited (Part 5): Failure Demand

This is the extra work caused by a failure to do something right the first time, leading to rework, complaints, or repeated requests instead of the poorly person getting what they need efficiently - usually the first time they are seen by

28 May 2026

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 232: ‘It’s not just thrush’: Navigating recurrent vulvovaginal thrush in primary care

In this episode, we talk to Dr Tori Ford about recurrent thrush in general practice.

26 May 2026

Opinion

The weight of ordinary things

What we lose when we lose the thinking space of the consultation is not administrative efficiency. It is a form of clinical knowledge that cannot be generated any other way: knowledge that emerges when a clinician holds the whole patient in mind

25 May 2026

Book review·Opinion

My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden

'My Fourth time, We Drowned,' challenges us to be human. As doctors we have the unique opportunity to address the injustices described in the book at an individual level.

23 May 2026

Book Reviews

Book review

Self-defence: A myth busting guide to immune health, by Daniel M Davis

...our immune system is a complex and story-laden set of ideas with implications... Naturally, all manner of amusing and occasionally annoying myths abound. There is 'healthy' and enjoyable approach to immunity in this book.

3 mins read

Book review

Book review: The Morbid Age: Britain and the Crisis of Civilization, 1919–1939

The Labour government of 1945 acted on the Beveridge report and, amongst a raft of achievements, created the welfare state and the NHS. However, the seeds of these accomplishments were planted earlier, during the morbid age.

7 mins read

Book review·Opinion

My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden

'My Fourth time, We Drowned,' challenges us to be human. As doctors we have the unique opportunity to address the injustices described in the book at an individual level.

5 mins read

Book review

Book review: The Golden Rule: Lessons in Living from a Doctor of Ageing

The Golden Rule is a 'lesson in living from a doctor of ageing' and it is full of hidden gems and pearls of wisdom from Lucy Pollock's ability to acutely observe beyond what is and isn’t being said. It exudes warmth and intelligence.

4 mins read

Book review

Book review: Gloria Don’t Speak

"This book gives Gloria a voice. It needs to be read widely by anyone involved in the care of people with learning disability or neurodiversity." - Peter Lindsay reviews Gloria Don't Speak by Lucy Apps

3 mins read

Book review

Understanding health, illness and society: a patient centred approach to healthcare by Alexis Paton

I have found another slim sociology text that takes the fight for health justice to audiences whose attention and focus is under siege. Alexis Paton channels her talents as a bioethicist, journalist, and a social scientist, reconnecting this topic with a sense of righteous outrage.

3 mins read

Book review

Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer

Ann Packer’s novel vividly depicts the complex, uncertain world of terminal care at home.

1 min read

Arts·Book review

The waiting room: poetry and publishings from over a decade in the NHS, by Giles Dawnay

This is a self published collection of writings by Giles Dawnay that comprises some haunting poetry and published writings in (among others) The Guardian, The BMJ and the BJGP, on themes that we ignore at our collective peril.

2 mins read

1

Book review·International

Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality Of Primary Care In the United States by Troyen A. Brennan

Troyen Brennan explores the complexities of the United States’ (US's) primary care with its multiple systems of funding and its absence of universal health care cover and finds that primary care is wonderful but broken...

3 mins read

Arts·Book review

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

In many respects, Kelson embodies the idealised GP of cultural consciousness: an easy-to-talk-to, principled eccentric... Set against the film’s graphic, meandering violence, Kelson’s permanence echoes reassuring familiarity.

1 min read

International

Clinical·International·Opinion

Reflections from the EASO primary care obesity masterclass, Vienna 2026

Sally Howlett attended the 2026 EASO primary care obesity masterclass in Vienna and brings back some useful insights for everyday practice.

4 mins read

International·Opinion

There’s no such thing as minor illness

The health system depends for its effectiveness on minor illness. We’ve built a system where we limit capacity to only include those with serious illnesses, or those with something dramatic and exciting.

3 mins read

International

Supporting general practice in Myanmar throughout 5 years of conflict

Jim Brockbank reports on the ongoing conflict in Myanmar from a healthcare perspective, with particular attention to the RCGP Quality Improvement project, the importance of telemedicine, and essential health partnerships. An essential read.

5 mins read

International·Opinion

Family physicians as air traffic controllers in a healthcare system

When air traffic controllers are overwhelmed or understaffed, flights are grounded, airspace becomes congested, and risks increase. When family physicians are undervalued, under-resourced, or excluded from system planning, the entire healthcare system suffers.

4 mins read

1

Clinical·International·Opinion

Stop coaching breathing: treat hyperventilation by talking them back to normal ventilation

The uncomfortable truth is that the more we try to teach breathing, the more the patient often inhales. What they need is not breathing coaching. What they need is conversation.

5 mins read

Long Read

Ambivalent care: when patients feel unheard and unsupported

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

As a clinician, do you find it challenging to treat patients with symptoms that are difficult to understand, explain or manage?

11 mins read

Medical societies in the 19th Century: How they influenced general practice

BJGP Long Read·Stories

Many of these societies may be historical relics, but their contribution to the development of general practice in the nineteenth century should not be forgotten.

7 mins read

Undervalued and unsustainable: The economic reality of GP minor surgery services

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

When the price of a portion of fish and chips has tripled in 20 years but the tariff for a joint injection remains static, something has gone seriously wrong with how we value general practice.

5 mins read

23

We need to talk about dying

BJGP Long Read

"Taking dying and death out of the solely medical domain, becoming joint partners in caring for the dying patient in the broadest sense, facilitates personalised and holistic care, and creates opportunity for a more relational and compassionate interaction ..."

15 mins read

On becoming: Empathy at the deep end

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Empathy is not a luxury. It is the ground on which healing relationships are built — and the ground on which we remain whole.

3 mins read

1

Trainees and students

AI detection in GP training – A hidden burden on supervisors

AiT·Opinion

As generative AI tools become more powerful and accessible, concerns about the authenticity of reflective writing are growing. Can we recognise AI‑generated text? How do we know whether a reflection is truly a learner’s own thinking?

3 mins read

Personal Protective Equipment (A Poem)

AiT·Arts·Opinion·Stories

The clinell wipes held in emerald green... They’re for my body... But what the hell Is there for my soul? A poem.

1 min read

Community-focussed curricula and the ScotGEM programme: Personal reflections on a research visit

Opinion·Undergraduate

Medical students’ interest in GP is declining. ScotGEM, and other community-orientated tracks, aim to buck this trend.

4 mins read

Who am I when I put the stethoscope on?

Opinion·Undergraduate

We are not passive witnesses in consultations, we are active partners. What happens in a consultation is not fixed but co-created, and I am more responsible for that than I had realised.

2 mins read

A note on educators’ notes: why GP training programmes in the UK needs clearer, fairer assessment governance

AiT·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

GP training programmes must balance two imperatives: protecting patients and supporting the development of hardworking, reflective clinicians. To achieve this, the establishment relies heavily on narrative assessment tools...

3 mins read

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

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BJGP conference highlights, 2026

Visualised podcast – BJGP Top 10

Urine testing for cervical screening

Trust in health professionals

BJGP Top 10 research 2025

Professor Martin Marshall at the BJGP Research Conference

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Trainees and students

BJGP Interviews

BJGP Interviews Podcast

BJGP TV | Research

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BJGP News and Editorial Comment