NASGP

Richard Fieldhouse reviews the latest edition of The Sessional GP magazine. In our 110th edition, Rachel has some seasonal advice, Tina loves LocumDeck, Claire has some warming paintings for us, Judith unmasks a ruthless dictator, Louise gives a comprehensive rundown of hypertension in pregnancy and Liz has some great tips if you're in the process of making babies. Scroll down to hear the podcast....

A partner in a North London practice was feeling burned out. The crushing target-chasing workload was no longer offset by the reward of helping patients. The BNF had no remedy for the distresses of modern life which patients were bringing into her consulting room. She, like her patients, was ground down. Casting about for a way of reviving the sense of hope and enthusiasm that had led her into med...

In our 109th edition, Alacoque describes a legal case where a locum's tax status was different to their legal status, Rachel's being a Good Samaritan, Judith's been looking at therapeutic spaces, Louise has summarised the Nice hypertension guidelines for us, plus much more. Scroll down to hear the podcast. Click to view the magazine

The Royal Opera House orchestra was rehearsing Die Walküre. For more than three hours violist Chris Goldscheider sat in front of twenty brass players belting out Wagner at 90dB. His hearing was permanently damaged. The Opera House argued that artistic standards took precedence over the risk of acoustic shock, but the courts thought otherwise and awarded Goldscheider substantial damages. A musician...

In our 108th edition, Judith makes a noise about being quiet, Liz summarises everything a newly qualified GP needs to know about getting their tax in order, Nigel helps us plan for when our offspring go off to university, Louise has been making sense of LFTs and Rachel has something to teach us about learning. Scroll down to hear the podcast. Click to view the magazine

In post-war Italy TB was still rife and notices in buses commanded “No Spitting”. In Britain in 1946 the message “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases” promoted the use of handkerchiefs to catch the germ-laden droplets. Presumably a reasonably successful public health campaign, although if you are trapped like a sardine in a rush-hour tube train, you may have no alternative but to sneeze into the sh...

NASGP chairman Richard Fieldhouse reviews the latest edition of The Sessional GP magazine. In our 107th edition, Louise has not one but two COPD-related e-learning articles; Judith has been washing her hands, Liz has been answering your tax questions, Rachel has some advice about medical hierarchy, and Kate has been making stress her friend, all with some more beautiful paintings by Claire. Scroll...

London’s Wigmore Hall is a temple of high culture. The audience is packed with musicians. Sometimes I feel I’m the only person who couldn’t be up there performing the work. But recently I joined forty people, some able, some less able, in mind and body, for a ‘Big Sing’. Everyone seemed to feel at home. In the morning we learned to sing simple songs in four parts, and in the afternoon we went up o...

Richard reviews the latest edition of The Sessional GP magazine. In our 106th edition, Liz takes us through five taxing days, Nigel has some top tips for locums on getting a mortgage, Louise reviews the latest SIGN guidance on alcohol in pregnancy, Sara highlights the roles of locums in quality improvement, Rachel looks at the risks around burnout, Kate on mental health safety, Judith rounds off w...

NASGP member Eva Kalmus describes how she became co-chair of the new GeriGP group of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), and why being a portfolio GP has never been boring. When I did my GP training, about half of the GP trainees undertook a self-made rotation of approved jobs, followed by a year in general practice to qualify. Some studied for MRCGP towards the end, and many transferred from ot...

Recently, in Tromsø, the Arctic capital of Norway, I came across the name Carleton Gajdusek. That name took me back many years and halfway round the globe to a village in the Fore district of Papua New Guinea. A man is standing in the doorway of his hut, clinging to the doorpost, his head nodding, before making his way unsteadily, emaciated and ataxic, to another hut. He has kuru. Dr Gajdusek was...

Richard reviews the latest edition of The Sessional GP. In this 105th edition, Sara concludes her article on a fresh pair of eyes; Judith would rather we didn't eat each other; Rachel has some news on medical indemnity; Liz answers your Type-2 queries; Eva and Nicky have both explored specialties outside of primary care that have enhanced their enjoyment of general practice; Kate wants us to get p...

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to our podcast with  Zoe in conversation with Richard Fieldhouse on her journey to a destination that's almost completely free of social media. I was an early adopter of social networking, in the days when dial-up was it. I had to phone switchboard when I was on nights at the QE Hospital in King’s Lynn to get connected to AOL, to timewaste effectivel...

As I was shepherded into a dimly-lit lift, I was expecting an exhibition designed to titillate and shock. How do you react to seeing a man standing, flayed of his skin, his internal organs on view, his muscles brick red, his blue eyes staring out at you? Or what about the trio posed round a table playing poker? You may have seen them in the film Casino Royale. James Bond stays cool. His interest i...

Zoe Neill had begun to feel trapped as a GP partner. She describes her journey, and speaks to Richard Fieldhouse in our latest podcast. Time was when the look of disappointment from a GP colleague would have got me down. “I was a full-time partner for 9 years,” I would proffer, but they had already moved on to someone far more erudite and accomplished: someone who hadn’t failed. Oh, you’re a GP lo...

Few things in Cuba are easy. Most countries faced with what Cuba has lived with for more than half a century would be failed states. Cuba keeps going, with hardship and sacrifice, but a shared vision. The reputation of Cuba’s health service – providing rich-country outcomes on a poor-country budget – attracts interest from politically aware medical students. But arranging an elective there, well,...

Richard and Sara run through the December edition of the Sessional GP Magazine 2017. In our 98th edition, Liz clarifies your tax schedule, Nigel has great news for locum parents; Judith's Cuban experience, Kelly's turning her experience to the benefit ...

Mrs Jones likes blue pills; they work better than those pink ones – even though they are the same drug. But she wouldn’t touch blue mashed potato. Wine buffs rate a wine higher if they believe it is expensive. Consumers are sure that a brand name product is superior to an identical generic, whether it be atenolol or cornflakes. The kids won’t eat burned sausages at home but round a campfire they t...

In our latest podcast, Richard and Sara talk about a recent encounter with an airline pilot; Louise's latest review of the NICE endometriosis guidelines; a new article on the IR35 intermediaries legislation and also some recommendations for podcasts,

It's been a busy week at the NASGP, having published our magazine last week, attended the Best Practice conference in Birmingham earlier in the week, and meeting lots of NASGP members and new GP locums and practice managers. And also,

Sara and Richard review the latest edition of The Sessional GP magazine. In the magazine, Kate runs us through mindfulness, Judith wonders why we don't prescribe placebos more often, Liz gives us the lowdown on selling your rented property,

In part three of our mini-series on starting out as a locum GP, Richard and Sara talk about the concept of 'proactive' and 'reactive' bookings, LocumDeck's Instant Book and GP locum chambers.

In our second episode on getting started as a GP locum, Richard and Sara talk about how to develop your booking process (and what that actually is!), and fine tuning your T&Cs. Listen now at the bottom of this page, or subscribe online.

You are 13 years old. Your family is poor. Each month you have to take a week off school. In a few months you are so behind in your school work that you drop out for ever. You live in an African country, in India, in the Australian outback...in Leeds.

Sara Chambers and Richard Fieldhouse review this month's edition of The Sessional GP Magazine (see below). Are GP hubs all they're made out to be? Do you understand what 'payment on account'? When did you last record the details of the family member wh...