Leading GP on the PR failure of general practice .

She has also pushed back on the “ knowledge economy ”, which involves “ just getting lots of data on everything in healthcare ”.

“ We are always weighing someone

, doing blood tests , looking at

their genomes or looking at biomarkers

to identify who is at risk

of what , and then we are supposed

to intervene to stop it happening ,”

she says .

“ The more people , money and energy you put into the measuring ,

the less is available for someone

Antony Scholefield Political news editor at Australian Doctor .

who is sick or is like that patient with the new baby .

“ That is why we need these examples of relationship-based care .”

She says the “ individualised risk

approach ” is a political obsession in the UK , coming from the same MPs she blames for the “ critical state of collapse of general practice ” and

It ’ s Britain in the late 1990s . Her

the multiple failures during the

patient is a first-time mother .

COVID-19 pandemic .

As a frontline GP , she says she

On COVID-19 , official data put

used to “ pop in ” to her home for five

UK deaths at almost a quarter of a

minutes every day for a week , where

million .

she watched the woman handling her baby .

She told her she was doing a good job but added that , if there was a crisis at any point , if at any time she was struggling to cope , she could arrange hospital admission for mum and bub .

Professor Trish Greenhalgh speaks at the WONCA World

Conference 2023 in Sydney .

“ I remember when the pandemic first reached the UK ; someone walked into a GP surgery with a cough and tried to see the doctor .

“ One of my staff was a GP at that practice and contacted me saying the receptionist was really ill .

The end .

“ The next day , she sent me a

It ’ s a story with so little drama that

bit of medical care she ever had .

the role of international GP advocate .

general practice ’ s funding woes .

message saying this receptionist

Professor Greenhalgh barely remem-

“ It is an example of primary

In her keynote speech at the

Show politicians that GP care is

was in hospital . The day after that ,

bered it until the patient messaged

healthcare being the little things

WONCA World Conference in Sydney

the government ’ s best use for the

our receptionist was in ICU .

her on Twitter 25 years later .

you do for people with whom you

in October , she said general practice

health budget , and watch the money

“ Next , she was dead .

It was a heartfelt thankyou for

have a relationship and using your

had “ not quite grasped the impor-

pour in .

“ What happened to her still

“ telling me I was doing really well

spidey senses to know when some-

tance of marketing itself ”.

However , Professor Greenhalgh

troubles me almost four years later

with my baby even though I was

thing could go wrong if you do not

She later told Australian Doctor :

is unconvinced .

because all she did was go to work

feeling ambivalent and depressed ”.

handle it — even if , most of the time ,

“ If you search medicine or health-

On one hand , she points to often-

one day .

“ I felt supported . I felt held . I

it does not .”

care or doctor in Google Images ,

quoted research of the late US paedi-

“ I have been a doctor for 40 years ,

knew that , if I needed to go to the

atrician Professor Barbara Starfield ,

and it has never crossed my mind

hospital , you ’ d arrange that , but I didn ’ t need it because I knew you were coming tomorrow .

“ I wanted to tell you that baby just qualified as a lawyer .”

‘ The more people , money and energy you put into the measuring , the less is available for someone who is sick .’

“ who , in my youth , I talked to about this while finishing a bottle of wine ”.

It found ( repeatedly ) that countries with more GPs spent less money to

that I might go to work and catch a disease that could kill me .

“ But it was not just doctors ; it was receptionist staff , patient-facing staff , cleaners .”

Professor Greenhalgh describes

achieve better health outcomes .

By contrast , she says Australia

what she did as “ so insignificant ”

So why is primary care — specif-

what do you get ? A hospital doctor .”

But demonstrating general

fared well . And this was not least

that she had forgotten about it .

ically general practice — underval-

Since jumping into academia ,

practice ’ s bang for buck is not like

because its GPs , their staff and the

“ But you could say I stopped the

ued and underfunded ?

Professor Greenhalgh has published

demonstrating the efficacy of a new

wider primary care system still

woman killing her baby because she

“ It is because doing simple things

more than 400 studies , 15 textbooks

wonder drug .

functioned .

was that deeply depressed .

is difficult to sell .”

and attracted hundreds of thousands

Through her own research , Pro-

For her , it stands as an important

“ I avoided the hospital admission

Now one of the big global names

of social media followers .

fessor Greenhalgh is a proponent of

lesson for health systems .

and saved the health service a huge

as professor of primary care health

For some Australian GPs , there

narrative reviews , taking on the “ spu-

amount of money from that , and the woman still remembers it as the best

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