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Is There Really Shortage Of GPs?

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The UK government and Family Doctors or General Practitioners (GP) clash over the government’s demand for GPs to see patients face to face.

Since the pandemic, the majority of GPs have resorted to virtual patient appointments.

In the eyes of government ministers, GPs refusal to see patients face to face is one of the reasons for the pressure on the Accident & Emergency (A & E).

GPs complain that they are overworked and do not have the resources to hire temporary staff.

How many more GPs do we really need?

To add insult to injury, the numbers of GPs in the UK is dwindling as more and more GPs retire without  medical schools producing enough doctors to fill the gap.

But are more GPs the answer to the UK’s current GP shortage?

I don’t think so.

The answer lies in a fundamental restructuring of the UK’s healthcare system.

But this effort would be a multi-faceted endeavour that cannot be addressed in a single article.

Therefore, I will stick to the subject of bridging the GP shortage gap.

 

Solution One: Deregulating the Certification Process

Anyone connected to the medical profession knows full well that nurses spend much of their day gossiping about the ineptitude of their medical doctor superiors.

This is because, without sounding disparaging to GPs, everything that a GP does can be competently done by an experienced nurse.

Everyone in the medical profession is aware of that, even GPs themselves are aware of that.

And a very experienced nurse poses less risk to patients than a junior doctor.

What I am implying is, the only difference between a GP and a very experienced nurse is the certificate and the title.

In terms of their ability to perform, there is no difference.

Therefore, there is no reason why experienced nurses should not be allowed to treat patients.

I am pretty sure many GPs will react with horror to such a proposal because they prefer to maintain the status quo and their prestige.

Calm down, take your pills.

GP can still play supervisory roles to nurses.

It is unlikely western governments will be able to plug the medical doctor shortage in their respective nations.

Poaching doctors from poorer nations will not plug the gap either.

The only action that can plug the western medical doctor shortage gap is to reclassify nurses to enable them perform tasks currently performed by GPs and junior doctors.

Solution Two: Drive Technology to GP Practice

Diagnostic medical technology has advanced beyond our imagination.

Diseases that were once in the realm of intuitive medicine can be easily diagnosed with simple tests.

Imaging technology, in the hands of an expert medical professional, can perform miracles.

Late cancer diagnosis continues to be the result of patients inability to see consultants in reasonable time.

Imagine the difference it would make in the lives of patients and GPs if every GP surgery was fitted with advanced imaging technology to enable GPs to easily diagnose their patients.

Because of the advancement in imaging technology, there is no longer the need to wait for consultants to analyse an image.

Radiologists, junior doctors, or even experienced nurses can easily interpret the contents of a medical image.

What does this mean for my proposal to empower nurses to perform the functions of GPs?

It means, aided by imaging technologies, nurses can easily replace GPs.

I am not suggesting there is no need for GPs.

All I am saying is that the current protective shield placed around GPs is totally unnecessary.

There is no need to complain about GP shortage when we have nurses who are as competent as GPs.

GPs are not going to like this suggestion because it means they will no longer be able to order their nurses around.

But if they are so keen on ordering people around, they can go and join the army.

Or relocate to North Korea.

 

The Case For Modernising Medical Education

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Almost every expert in the UK knew how the virus was going to behave.

For some reason, the Prime Minister, surrounded by dozens of advisers, did not seem to have known what was going to happen.

To be fair to Mr. Johnson, he was not the only one who did not know.

Most medical professionals, who were supposed to be the experts, did not know either.

They failed to detect the virus early.

They were completely unprepared for a crisis of such magnitude even though the warning bell of a virus outbreak has been sounding for years.

They had no clue about the best therapy to use for treatment.

They merely made stuff up as they went along, which resulted in tens of thousands of needless deaths.

To be fair to medical professionals they honestly did not know what to do.

This brings us to a key question of this article, why didn’t the medical professionals know what to do?

MEDICINE IS A MYSTERY, NOT A PUZZLE

In his book Reshaping National Intelligence for an Age of Information, Gregory Treverton introduced the puzzle vs. mystery framework.

According to Mr. Treverton, a puzzle is a problem with a missing piece, i.e. information.

When there is a piece of missing information, such as the question, “Where has Osama Bin Laden been hiding?” that is a puzzle to solve.

A mystery, on the other hand, is a problem that is not necessarily solved by additional information. Such additional information only thickens the cloud of misinformation.

When a patient enters a surgeon’s clinic feeling unwell with unusual symptoms, it is a mystery.

The coronavirus is a mystery.

In reality, most of the diseases the medical profession face these days are a mystery.

The tools for medical diagnosis have advanced far beyond our imagination.

Big problem.

The majority of medical professionals still lack the knowledge and ability to effectively use those tools.

This is the reason medicine remains a mystery.

THE CASE FOR MODERNISING MEDICAL EDUCATION

If a pilot from the 50s or even the 1990s was to enter a modern aircraft, he would be amazed at the level of sophistication of the aircraft.

He would have no clue how to operate it.

Aviation has advanced beyond recognition, so is the training of pilots and aviation staff.

When a new aircraft is built, the pilots, engineers, and the entire crew are retrained to operate the new aircraft.

Like aviation, many industries are constantly updating their training to take into account new information, new processes, and new methods.

Except medicine.

The current medical curriculum and structure of medical training have been in existence since the last century.

The syllabus and structure were developed to serve different medical requirements for a different time.

The types of disease, the level of advancement, and patient’s access to information have evolved and are completely different from the ones the current medical education architecture was designed to tackle.

When the current medical education structure was designed, medicine was trying to solve puzzles.

The problem modern medicine faces is not the lack of information, but too much of it.

21st-century medical training needs to be focused on the analysis and interpretation of data.

It is this inability of medical professionals to adequately analyse information (or solving mysteries) that was the reason for over two million coronavirus deaths.

Medical professionals are woefully ill-equipped to address the demands of 21st-century medical requirements.

The sooner medical institutions realises this, the better it would be for all of us.

Accepting Responsibility for Your Own Health

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Medical doctors are trained to treat not heal.

The healing of your body and soul depends on you as an individual.

Meaning, you are responsible for your own health and wellbeing.

The actions you take each and every day, the environment you create for yourself, will determine the quality of your life.

In the book “Surviving Your Doctors”, author Richard S. Klein wrote:

“We all need to be active participants in our own health care, both at the preventative level in our choice of lifestyles (healthy eating, avoiding cigarettes, regular exercise, etc.) and in our conversations and questioning of our doctors and nurses. When patients, physicians, nurses, hospital staff, and pharmacies all work together, optimal health care is provided, and we as patients have our best chance at cure”

It could not have been said any better.

Do not become a passive participant in your healthcare.

Take charge of your health and you will live a quality life.

 

 

When Covid Comes To An End

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Covid Accountability

Anyone who has followed my writings during the pandemic will know that I have been critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic.

I believe if effective actions were taken, we would have averted a lot of the unnecessary deaths.

Elected officials are been paid to make the right decisions for the people they are elected to serve.

Ignorance is not an excuse for making catastrophic blunders that results in the death of tens of thousands of people.

When it is all over, there will be naming and shaming.

Whether that would lead to accountability is something else altogether.

What About the Medics

While politicians the world over will be hauled before their respective parliaments to answer questions about their handling of the pandemic, the medics who were central to the response will not be expected to explain their roles.

They will be hailed as heroes who deserve medals, even though they are as guilty as the politicians.

If politicians are not allowed to use ignorance as an excuse, why is it OK for medics to claim ignorance?

Coronavirus has presented us with the opportunity to reform healthcare.

Let’s take advantage of that opportunity.

We might never have this opportunity for another hundred years.