Euan Lawson1 quoted the Japanese proverb ‘Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.’ These are the words of Soichiro Honda, the founder of the Honda Motor Company. He also wrote the following:
‘Philosophy is more important than technologies. Things like money and technologies are merely the means to serve people. There is no meaning in a technology if, at the base of it, it does not consider people. What drives a firm’s growth is philosophy. A true technology is a crystal of philosophy. Therefore, even in a research lab, the philosophy of the people who work there should take precedence over the technology.’2
In general practice, continuity and relationship are our cardinal philosophies, and the care we provide is a substitute for the technology. True care in general practice must be a crystal of our philosophies.
However, one of the obstacles to true care is the commercialisation of medicine. The key component of commercialisation is the reductionism of medical services. It increases the cost of medical services and erodes holistic concepts of health.3 The holistic concept, which has a root in the Hippocratic tradition, is central to general practice.
Yes. It is time to rewild general practice.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2022
