BJGP Interviews

In this episode we talk to Dr Anita Lim who is a Senior Research Fellow, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London. Paper: Non-speculum clinician-taken samples for HPV testing: a cross sectional study in older women https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0708 Speculum use is a significant barrier to cervical screening and can become parti...

In this episode we talk to Dr Sarah Price who is a research fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School. Paper: Intra-abdominal cancer risk with abdominal pain: a prospective cohort primary care study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0552 Abdominal pain is a non-specific symptom, which may portend serious disease, including intra-abdominal cancers. There is no unified pathway for investigat...

In this episode we talk to Dr Yin Zhou who is a GP and Clinical Research Fellow at the Primary Care Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, at the University of Cambridge. Paper: Pre-diagnostic clinical features and blood tests in patients with colorectal cancer: a retrospective linked data study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0563 Understanding pre-diagnostic patterns of relevant c...

In this episode we talk to Dr Kimberley Foley who is a Research Associate at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London. Paper: Impact of Covid-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people aged 0-24 years in England; longitudinal trends study 2015-2020 https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0643 The Covid-19 pandemic response led to health system reorganisat...

In this episode we talk to Dr Rohini Mathur who is an associate professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr Sally Hull who is a GP and a member of the Clinical Effectiveness Group at QMUL. Paper: Characterisation of type 2 diabetes subgroups and their association with ethnicity and clinical outcomes: a UK real-world data study using the East London Databa...

In this episode we talk to Dr David Whiteley who is a lecturer at the Department of Nursing and Community Health, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University. Paper: Developing a primary care-initiated hepatitis C treatment pathway in Scotland: A qualitative study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0044 Historically, GPs were rarely involved in the treatment of HCV, their role...

In this episode we talk to Amy Clark who is a final year medical student at Cardiff and Dr Kathryn Hughes who is a GP and senior clinical lecturer at PRIME Centre Wales at the School of Medicine at Cardiff University. Paper: Accuracy of the NICE traffic light system in children presenting to general practice: a retrospective cohort study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0633 The National Institut...

In this episode we talk to Dr Jon Gibson who is a research fellow at the School of Health Sciences at the University of Manchester. Paper: Primary care workforce composition and population, professional, and system outcomes: a retrospective cross-sectional analysis https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0593 The increasing number of staff from diverse healthcare backgrounds is changing the general prac...

In this episode we speak to Professor Chris Butler who is a GP and professor of primary care at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Science at the University of Oxford. He is also Co-Chief Investigator for the PRINCIPLE trial and the PANORAMIC trial. Paper: Colchicine for COVID-19 in the community (PRINCIPLE): a randomised, controlled, adaptive platform trial https://doi.org/10.3399/BJG...

In this episode we speak to Dr Charlotte Archer who is senior research associate in primary care mental health at Bristol Medical School at the University of Bristol. Paper: Rise in prescribing for anxiety in UK primary care between 2003 and 2018: a population-based cohort study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0561 Previous studies have found substantial...

In this episode we talk to Dr Laura Jefferson who is a Research Fellow at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York. Paper: General practitioner wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0680 Many GPs have reported stress and burnout over recent years, which is potentially damaging not just to doctors themselves, but also to pa...

In this episode we interview Dr Austin O'Carroll who is a GP based in Dublin and founder of Safetynet Ireland and North Dublin City GP Training, and co-founder GPCareForAll. Paper: The Triple F**k Syndrome: How medicine contributes to the systemic oppression of people born into poverty Link to article: https://bjgplife.com/the-triple-fk-syndrome-how-medicine-contributes-to-the-systemic-oppression-...

In this episode we talk to Dr Simon Fraser who is an associate professor of public health at the School of Primary Care at the University of Southampton. Paper: Persistently normal blood tests in patients taking methotrexate for RA or azathioprine for IBD: a retrospective cohort study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0595 Clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellenc...

In this episode we talk to Professor Trisha Greenhalgh from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. Paper: Why do GPs rarely do video consultations? A qualitative study in UK general practice https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0658 The pandemic provided strong impetus to extend remote consultation services in general practice, but video remains infrequen...

In this episode we talk to Dr Christo Karuna who is a Senior Lecturer at Monash University, Australia. Paper: Prevalence of burnout among general practitioners: a systematic review & meta-analysis https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0441 GP burnout is widely recognised as a problem in health care. However, no study has been conducted on the global burden of this condition. The systematic review...

In this episode we talk to Mr Ashu Gandhi who is a consultant surgeon from Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and an honorary senior lecturer at the Manchester Breast Centre at the University of Manchester. Paper: No association between breast pain and breast cancer: A prospective cohort study of 10,830 symptomatic women presenting to a breast cancer diagnostic clinic https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP....

In this episode we talk to Dr Hassan Awan who is a GP and Wellcome Doctoral Fellow at the School of Medicine, Keele University. Paper: Emotional distress, anxiety and depression in South Asians with long-term conditions: a qualitative systematic review https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0345 Mental health is reported to be poorer among people with long-term conditions (LTCs) and people of South Asi...

In this episode we talk to Dr Joāo Delgado who is a lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health, College of Medicine and Health at the University of Exeter. Paper: Continuity of general practitioner care for patients with dementia: impact on prescribing and the health of patients https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0413 Evidence is limited about the potential positive effects of higher continuity of...

In this episode we talk to Professor Jeremy Horwood who is a professor of social sciences and applied health research at NIHR ARC West, and the Centre for Academic Primary Care, at the University of Bristol. Paper: Unintended consequences of online consultations: a qualitative study in UK primary care https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0426 Previous studies have shown that online consultations may...

In this episode we talk to Dr Gail Hayward who is a GP and Associate Professor of Primary Care at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Paper: Urine collection devices to reduce contamination in urine samples for diagnosis of uncomplicated UTI: a single-blind randomised controlled trial in primary care https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0359 This trial is th...

In this episode we talk to Dr Stephen Bradley who is a GP and clinical research fellow at the University of Leeds. Paper: Associations between general practice characteristics and chest X-ray rate: an observational study https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0232 Abnormal findings on chest X-rays that have been requested by GPs because of symptoms are an important route to lung cancer diagnosis. Previ...

In this episode we talk to Dr Christos Grigoroglou and Professor Kieran Walshe. Christos is a Research Fellow in Health Services Research, Manchester Centre for Health Economics and Kieran is a Professor of Health Policy and Management both at the University of Manchester. Paper: The scale and scope of locum doctor use in general practice in England: Analysis of routinely collected workforce data...

In this episode we speak to Dr Anita Lim who is a Senior Research Fellow, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London. Paper: Non-speculum sampling approaches for cervical screening in older women: randomised controlled trial https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0350 Inadequately screened women aged 50 and older are at a disproportionately higher risk of cervical cancer and...

In this episode we talk to Dr Iona Heath, a retired GP from Kentish Town and former President of the RCGP. She talked to us after writing an editorial for the BJGP. She discusses the current crisis in UK general practice and offers an approach that can tackle some of the deep-rooted problems we face.  The editorial: Rewilding general practice . Paper: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp21X717689

In this episode we talk to Dr Jordan Moxey and Dr Carol Sinnott who are both at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute in Cambridge. Jordan is a medical doctor and programme coordinator. Carol is a Senior Clinical Research Associate and GP. Paper: Identifying how GPs spend their time and the obstacles they face: a mixed-methods study https://...