GENERALISM AT THE CENTRE OF CARE
There is, it seems, a continuing need to make and re-make the argument that a strong, generalist primary care sector is an essential part of any effective healthcare system. Governments tend to equate investment in health with opening hospitals and buying high-tech equipment. This issue of the BJGP highlights and celebrates many facets of primary care and its engagement with the public health.
Starting at the sharp end, Haj-Hassan and colleagues' study from Oxford (page 171) itemises the key, early ‘red flag’ symptoms found in children with meningitis – leg pain, confusion, neck pain or stiffness, and photophobia are the cardinal symptoms, whereas pallor, headache, and cool peripheries are non-discriminatory. Khan and co-workers' study (page 197) is another reminder of the role of general practice in dealing with serious illness, in this case cancer: survivors of breast, colon, …