The Changing GP Job
Dr Clare Gerada, a senior GP and former chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, looks at the way the GP’s job has changed over the last 30 years. No wonder the NHS is haemorrhaging GPs, because it is not a pretty tale.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/22/my-30-years-as-gp-profession-horribly-eroded-clare-gerada [LONG READ]
Pharmacists can Help …
Advice on Masks
Never mind what the UK government says for political expediency, here’s some recent advice from expert academic researchers on masks. Essentially anything less than an FFP2/N95 mask is not going to provide decent protection.
Your questions answered.
NHS Complexity & Covid
Interesting and useful background article in BMJ this week, from three well respected academics, on the complexity of the NHS and how it is affected by Covid. It’s worth a read, if only for the perspective.
Local Hospital Performance
NHS Tracker: How is the NHS in your area coping?
Find out how your local NHS hospitals are currently performing with this app from the BBC at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59592551.
It doesn’t say, but one has to assume the information presented is taken from publicly available NHS performance data.
GPs are Invaluable to the NHS
There was a letter in the Times yesterday (25 November) from Prof. Sir Denis Pereira Gray, who is Patron of the Natonal Association from Patient Participation (NAPP; it the umbrella body for primary care patient groups). In it Sir Denis champions GPs aas an invaluable part of the NHS. However he points out the loss of GP continuity of care – something I’m sure we’ve all noticed – and the need to recover this if we are to improve overall healthcare outcomes.… more >>>
Long Covid Help
I’ve received the following from NW London NHS.
… more >>>
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of Post Covid (Long Covid), such as low energy, breathlessness, brain fog or others, then please visit our Post Covid support page https://www.nwlondonccg.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid. It has support, resources and information about Post Covid to help you manage your condition.
Immune Amnesia
This is rather interesting. And yes, you did read that correctly: your immune system can suffer from amnesia and forget everything it knows. It is commonly caused by measles – and is a very excellent reason to get your measles vaccination. Other virus can do this too, just not as efficiently as measles.… more >>>
HPV Vaccine Success
There’s a BBC report that the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is reducing the incidence of cervical cancer by around 87% amongst the the early cohorts of those vaccinated (who were inoculated around the age of 11-13 and are now in their 20s). However the results are less dramatic for the older teenagers who vaccinated as part of a catch-up campaign, probably because they were already sexually active and infected.… more >>>