Kristina Deakin

Watch this it’s fascinating - I asked James Timpson what he’d do about prisons and sentencing if he was in charge. He believes only a third of prisoners in jail should definitely be there. He’s now in charge of prisons (but not sentencing).

I’ve spent the best part of the afternoon going through the notes of an elderly chap I’ve been reviewing over the last few years and making a summary for his new GP for when he leaves London soon. He’s had extensive input not only from me, his GP, but also inpatient teams, geriatrics, old age psychiatry, the rapid diagnostic clinic and other community teams including rehabilitation and psychological therapies. I know him and his wife very well. I’ve also had lots of contact with his specialists including his geriatrician and psychiatrist. It has been hard at times.. his care decisions have rarely been black and white and there have been set backs along the way. We have worked through new issues arising pragmatically. We aren’t there yet but we are getting there. His care is a great example of holistic and joined up care with the GP at the centre expertly co-ordinating next steps. It makes me proud to be a GP. It also makes me even more sure we are irreplaceable. Only GPs see the big picture of everything that is going on. I cannot imagine anyone who works in primary care being able to do what I have done in this case. The incoming @UKLabour government must rebuild the ruins that primary care currently lies in. There must be a focus on recruiting GPs first to fill gaps, not ARSS staff. We keep the NHS running.. please don’t let us disappear. #TeamGP @wesstreeting @mtpennycook

4000 GP trainees coming out this summer, barely a couple of hundred jobs advertised across the UK. Yet patients complain they can’t see get to see a GP. My job interview was against 27 other GPs, colleagues have reported interviewing against 40+ other GPs.. But there are plenty of PAs and ARRS staff so it must be ok.. 🤷‍♂️ Primary care is screwed.

Pharmacy 1st - GPs Second This month 50,000 consultations for the simple stuff, sore throats, earache etc Payments averaged £75 each or nearly half the TOTAL payment/patient/year for GP services Salaried Pharmacists earn nothing, small pharmacies it’s good, corporate it’s profit

You will miss GPs when they are gone BUPA advert below £140 for 30 min Currently you pay £163/year via Taxes for your GP services (it’s not enough) Govt/NHSE have increased this be £3 this year - 2% Average number of appts/year is 7 but many have more Can’t see a GP - blame MPs

My god. What an indictment of 12 years of Tory govt. @C4Ciaran has compared NHS performance in 2023 with that in 2011: ▪️x10 worse 4-hour A&E waits ▪️x13 worse 18 wk waits for care ▪️x14 worse cancer waits ▪️x16 worse 4-hour trolley waits ▪️x3,000 worse 12-hour trolley waits

#TeamGP So the pharmacy scheme for minor illnesses comes in to force today. I’d like to highlight I advised a patient to attend the local pharmacy as per the PCN guidelines last year. The patient was so upset at this new advice that she reported me to the GMC. The GMC followed through with the complaint. The practice did not defend me, even though I followed their guidance issued by the partnership to the letter. The outcome was I did indeed follow the correct course of action. However, I was instructed to “reflect” on why I gave this advice after an hour long zoom call. There are no winners with this sticking plaster scheme - neither the doctors nor the patients. General practice needs to be funded & resourced properly.

Cervical cancer will be almost eliminated in coming decades if HPV vaccination rates are high in children. In England HPV vaccination coverage in schools is rising again but still below pre-pandemic levels. Please encourage children to get protected. gov.uk/government/sta…

The latest monthly GP workforce figures for England are out today showing yet more decline in GPs and further increases in registered patients. Let's look into the details 🩺👀🧵

WHO statement on attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital and reported large-scale casualties WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. The hospital was operational, with patients, health and care givers, and internally displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries. The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military. The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced. WHO calls for the immediate active protection of civilians and health care. Evacuation orders must be reversed. International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted.

“Israel’s 24-hour notice that people in Northern Gaza must leave their land, homes and hospitals is outrageous – this represents an attack on medical care and on humanity. We have consistently seen dehumanising language and this violence is a manifestation of that.

🚨 | NEW: Keir Starmer's brutal analysis of Rishi Sunak in his speech "Some people say to me: “It’s about honesty, isn’t it? We were lied to. These politicians are liars.” But do you know, that’s not it. Well – maybe it is for one of them… "But for people like Rishi Sunak its more that they cannot see the country before them. The walls of Westminster are so high. The view that your lives, your services, your future – are just pieces on their board. That is so deeply ingrained in their mindset. They have no way to understand what you’ve been through. "You know, they actually believe what comes out of their mouths. "When your public services were cut to the bone and they said “we’re all in it together”. "When they told you – to your face – that Brexit would only bring benefits to your business.  "When they say now, that they’re taking tough decisions for you, in this cost of living crisis. "They’ve convinced themselves that this is what they’re really doing. They can’t see Britain – not your Britain. Can’t accept – that every time your interests were on the line, they made you pay. But when it’s people like them, they look after themselves. "Rishi Sunak and the shallow men and women of Westminster. Unable to see, unable to listen, unable to stand in your shoes and serve this country. And they won’t change. They can’t change. Couldn’t change even in the pandemic when our country came together to follow rules. Rules that they set. And they broke."

This video from @NorwichCityFC is the best bit of Mental Health Awareness I’ve ever seen… watch until the end.

General practices often get requests from patients for copies of test results and clinical letters. If you are a patient, instead of doing this, sign up for the NHS app. You can then view all your clinical records. It is more convenient for you and saves time for your practice.

11-15 April will be the next round of Junior Doctors strike action in England.   The Government is still refusing to make a credible offer - or any offer at all - to resolve our dispute. Read more: bma.org.uk/juniorspay

I remember seeing news footage of Nigel Farage’s Brexit march consisting of about 30 bellends and a whippet… But no British news coverage of this incredible strike action from yesterday:

Dr Emma Runswick(British Medical Association) - "It would cost around £1b to increase junior doctors pay... the govt have written off 15x that on unusable, fraudulent PPE... Steve Barclay needs to stop the silly preconditions if he wants talks to take place" #BBCBreakfast

Tomorrow 50,000 junior doctors in England will begin a historic strike to restore our pay. Don't go to work, don't cross a picket line. Stick together, fight together, win together. See you on the picket lines! #JuniorDoctorsStrike