BMJ 1995;311:1028 (14 October)

Letters

GPs should be given breathing space to cope

EDITOR,--Iona Heath rightly points out general practice's problems in coping with changing social circumstances.1 Recently I talked to a daughter of a former general practitioner in the north east; our talk added to my reservations about the logic of providing continuity of care 365 days a year. According to her, her father used to finish his surgery at 11 am on weekdays. He had his lunch at home, used to take his calls at home, and often managed to have two hours' sleep in the afternoon. He had a one hour surgery in the afternoon. He used to do all night calls himself but was never tired.

These days the working conditions are so different that we even have to eat our lunch during lunchtime meetings. Is it not sensible for the government and the rest of the higher authorities to rethink the logic of keeping the 24 hour responsibility, . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

General practice at night
Iona Heath
BMJ 1995 311: 466. [Extract] [Full Text]

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