If you are reading this, the chances are you already value having a regular GP. You also possibly know how dedicated everyone is at Paddington Doctors in their role of providing care for the community.
General practice is a dynamic and stimulating medical specialty used to adapting to change and meeting challenges, while addressing the administrative requirements of Medicare compliance and regulation. The new MyMedicare scheme is designed to improve health outcomes through formalising the role of a preferred GP by voluntary registration with a chosen practice. While we at Paddington Doctors are trying to understand and anticipate the impact of these administrative changes, this initiative can be seen as an encouraging acknowledgement of the importance of the GP in primary health care.
There is very good evidence that good primary health care delivers improved individual health outcomes while also having significant economic and efficiency benefits, e.g. reducing the burden on hospitals by reducing emergency attendances and hospital admissions.
Earlier in my studies and career I didn’t seriously consider being a GP. Perhaps I was negatively influenced by the often dismissive view of the job by the public, media and those in the hospital system: “just a GP”. We also tend to read or talk about GPs only when things go wrong. The reality is that general practice is an incredibly rewarding and satisfying job. Each day is filled with frequent small-scale but meaningful interactions or interventions, e.g. an early or timely diagnosis, leading to a simple and effective management and good outcomes. Every consultation offers an opportunity to address preventive care and improve health and well-being. Despite being an essential part of primary care, preventive care is often overlooked as it is ‘invisible’: the primary success is measured by the things that don’t happen.
For me the most important and satisfying part of my job is the long-term nature of the relationship and treating the patient as a whole rather than a disease. There are many important aspects of good care in general practice- communication, coordination, and confidential, comprehensive and compassionate care, but, if I had to single out the most important aspect it would be continuity of care. Fragmentated care all too often leads to delayed diagnosis, increased prescribing, increased costs, increased interventions and poorer outcomes. I understand that this long-term relationship requires trust from the patient, a privilege which the doctor addresses with gratitude, responsibility and accountability.
