Media attacks on GPs threaten the doctor-patient relationship

There’ve been many times in the past when general practitioners have unwittingly become the target of media criticism, but the current onslaught is the worst I can remember in over 30 years of being a GP.

As well as being offensive and inaccurate, it is also irresponsible as it poisons the relationship that GPs have with their patients and undermines the trust and confidence they have in us.

You need to be pretty thick skinned to be a GP, but these almost daily attacks on our professionalism, commitment, and integrity are demoralising and wear us down. Some colleagues have described it as a “war of attrition” and, after 18 months working through a …