Editorial

There are many wrongs in general practice in need of the right kind of solutions. As GPs we are, to use that overused phrase, well placed to see what the solutions might be, whether for improving clinical care or for better organisation of care. Writing for InnovAiT is an opportunity to share best practice and to highlight important challenges, including identification of the wrong solutions. Every month we publish articles that suggest improvements in clinical management; within these articles and accompanying non-clinical articles there are proposed improvements and ways of righting some wrongs.

For example, a big challenge for general practice, discussed often in these pages, is the lack of time within consultations to meet the challenge of achieving best practice. Many attempts to make up for the shortage of GPs and the inevitable lack of time compromise best practice. Whatever the skills on show within the Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA), this format of assessment acknowledges our reality and the significant challenge of compressing best practice into the time available for compromised primary care consultations. Do we offer a service shaped more by constraint than best practice?

It is important for us to formulate better solutions and be a part of the problem solving by sharing ways of achieving best practice, otherwise so-called solutions will not be solutions. Within training there are important skills to learn that enable us to better participate in quality improvement, better organisation of care and better leadership. Aside from articles on clinical topics, we encourage submission of articles that share your learning on these important parts of our practice and the curriculum. It is becoming more apparent that best practice needs more than ever, good leadership, better organisation and unity of purpose. We are keen for you to write on such subjects. They just happen, no surprise, to be important components of the curriculum.

Rungphloy Jaroenchasri et al. describe the importance of recognising supraglottitis and how to manage this airway emergency; uncommon but certainly not unknown in primary care. It raises questions not least for our organisation, practice leadership and teamwork. Maryanne Hammon writes on pelvic inflammatory disease and identifies the need for timely treatment to prevent complications, including chronic pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Thomas Connolly and Anne Connolly consider women’s health and the imaging modalities used for commonly encountered symptoms and pathologies offering guidance on the use and interpretation of imaging in primary care. Polly Begum et al. give an account of the diagnosis and management of eczema in children. Prompt recognition and management reduces negative physical and psychological consequences. Point-of-care ultrasound has been adopted quite widely by general practice in some countries. Is this another example of better care requiring longer consultations? Aaron Poppleton et al. look at some of the potential benefits, evidence and uses of primary care ultrasound in this country and abroad.

We must congratulate trainees who have passed the SCA recently, blossoming into the completion of training and a wider world. I am sure success was never in doubt, but others will be licking wounds and feeling disappointed. We have witnessed knowledge and skills of trainees far beyond those tested within the SCA. These are evident to those in your practices giving supervision, within and outside ePortfolio completion. Whatever your stage of training I hope you will seize the opportunity to notch up a few publications and share your pearls of wisdom by submitting something suitable to InnovAiT; your journal and your opportunity to write about the rights and wrongs, the best of practice and the best of your learning. It will help and inspire those following in your footsteps, looking now for your lead. As ever, we can suggest titles and I am sure your trainers will give help if needed. You might persuade your trainer to write something that reflects your shared experience of learning about best practice and how it can be achieved within the confines of real-world general practice. It is important to retain a clear vision of the best of general practice so we can work for better solutions to the challenges we face. We must right the wrongs. Write now!

Don’t forget to sign up for eTOC email alerts so you know when the latest edition has been published https://journals-sagepub-com-s.web.bisu.edu.cn/connected/INO#email-alert

You can sign up for the blog at https://rcgpinnovait.wordpress.com and of course do follow us at:

@rcgpInnovait          @rcgpInnovait

rcgpinnovait2021