Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Life & Times

Unsettled forums for unsettled times: a plea for collegiality in public debate

Andrew Papanikitas
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (717): 169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X719081
Andrew Papanikitas
. Email:
Roles: Deputy Editor
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: andrew.papanikitas@phc.ox.ac.uk
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

I have argued before that general practice needs unsettled spaces, where differences of opinion can be aired, taboo topics can be broached, concerns can be raised and addressed, and orthodoxies challenged.1 This particularly applied to the topic of medical ethics at conferences: the obligate concern with good and bad, right and wrong, professional and unprofessional implied that the ‘losing’ opinion would be dubbed ‘wrong’ and even prevailing ‘good’ views might provoke a moral panic from the public media. Conferences have a level of protection — you need a ticket of entry and there is a physical barrier to non-ticket holders. Just like closed online forums, however, there is communication with the wider world via the media, and any forum member who sees reason to share what they see, hear, or read.

BJGP Life is a forum for opinion and debate, discussion, and viewpoints, and it is open to the public. Articles are neither BJGP research nor the opinion of the RCGP but the views of their authors. Articles picked up for the BJGP Life & Times sections are re-reviewed. We want content to be accurate, encouraging authors to provide appropriate references so that readers and reviewers can check the basis of statements.2 We want submissions to respect ethical standards, such as seeking appropriate consent when discussing particular patients, colleagues, or workplaces — the BJGP has a form for this!

Airing discussions in public can have huge benefits. A BJGP Life post on the harms of COVID-19 for children3 was picked up by the fact-checking site www.FullFact.org.4 The correction raised an important flaw: COVID-19 mortality in the 0–19 age group had been cited as mortality in children. The author and editors were alerted and the article rapidly corrected with a link to the Full Fact piece — adding helpful analysis that had been beyond the scope of the initial piece. As the ‘fake news’ phenomenon has illustrated, there is also considerable scope for harm, either as a result of an article or the responses to it creating an inappropriate air of blame or panic. Our favourite comments offer reasons and evidence rather than simply assertions and unexplained facts. Someone who has a conflict of interest may be in a bind — by declaring an interest they ‘advertise it,’ and by keeping quiet they ‘seek to mislead’.

The theme this issue is women’s health. In a workplace and society historically dominated by men, the topic of the menopause has been a taboo.5 A newer taboo is the discussion of gender. As Richard Armitage illustrates, the ways in which our society defines and therefore records gender have practical, health-impacting implications.6

The airing of concerns is vital in the distinction between journalism and propaganda. Years ago, I was dismayed to see colleagues lambasted for suggesting that confidentiality might be more complicated than the public might perceive.7 In this issue, Wynne-Jones and Chew-Graham tell us why GPs mustn’t lose their role in supporting people back to work.8 Toon reflects that removal of mandatory isolation will mean that those who have COVID-19 take on the ethical responsibility for the protection of others,9 while Heath et al highlight the problems the #newnormal is causing to medical education, arguing that recognition of this effect is needed before there is lasting damage to the future of the medical profession.10 Should we be airing these concerns? I think so.

We also see some approaches offered for reflection and empathy. A group of GPs used reflection on children’s stories as a way of thinking about professional challenges. Sometimes GPs can feel like the Stick Man, trying desperately to get home at the end of the day, while others only seem to see their instrumental value.11 Narrative as a vehicle for understanding is also showcased in Launer’s operatic reflections on Mozart’s Magic Flute.12 A shared experience of literature and the arts might be a vehicle for shared understanding, enhancing rather than undermining that experience. Koki Kato takes this idea further, using phenomenology (a philosophy of lived experience) to come to a more empathic view of illness.13 It is easy to imagine these being excluded from a conference programme as ‘unscientific’ or not clearly mapping to headings such as ‘clinical innovation’. In the current life and times of general practice, where our ability to meet and talk are limited by workload and biosecurity alike, collegiality in our forums is more important than ever. Join the discussion on www.bjgplife.com.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2022

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. Papanikitas A
    (2016) Education and debate: a manifesto for ethics and values at annual healthcare conferences. London J Prim Care (Abingdon) doi:10.1080/17571472.2016.1244152.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  2. 2.↵
    1. Lawson L
    Editor’s Notes #003: March briefing. https://bjgplife.com/mar22/ (accessed 10 Mar 2022).
  3. 3.↵
    1. Hyde L
    (2022) Our children are sitting ducks. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718901.
  4. 4.↵
    GP’s article overstates the number of Covid-19 deaths in children. Full Fact. 4 Feb 2022. https://fullfact.org/online/133-covid-deaths-children/ (accessed 10 Mar 2022).
  5. 5.↵
    1. Sivarajasingam V
    (2022) Breaking the silence around the menopause. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718877.
  6. 6.↵
    1. Armitage R
    (2022) A threat to trans patient care quality: gender markers, patient records, and population screening programmes. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718937.
  7. 7.↵
    1. Papanikitas A
    (2011) Ethicality and confidentiality: is there an inverse-care issue in general practice ethics? Clinical Ethics 6, 4, 186–190.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  8. 8.↵
    1. Wynne Jones G,
    2. Chew-Graham C
    (2022) Why GPs must not lose their role in supporting people back to work. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718925.
  9. 9.↵
    1. Toon P
    (2022) The ethics of self isolation. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718889.
  10. 10.↵
    1. Heath J,
    2. Sornalingam S,
    3. Cooper M
    (2022) Medical students are PEE’D-off with the pandemic. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718973.
  11. 11.↵
    1. Papanikitas A,
    2. McKenzie-Edwards E,
    3. Starer R,
    4. et al.
    (2022) Storytime as a vehicle for reflective practice. Br J Gen Pract doi:10.3399/bjgp22X718949.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  12. 12.↵
    1. Launer J
    (2022) Operatic reflections: Mozart’s Magic Flute, #MeToo, and families in primary care. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718985.
  13. 13.↵
    1. Kato K
    (2022) How can we understand illness? Phenomenology and the pillar of person-centred care. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp22X718961.
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 72 (717)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 72, Issue 717
April 2022
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Unsettled forums for unsettled times: a plea for collegiality in public debate
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Unsettled forums for unsettled times: a plea for collegiality in public debate
Andrew Papanikitas
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (717): 169. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp22X719081

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Unsettled forums for unsettled times: a plea for collegiality in public debate
Andrew Papanikitas
British Journal of General Practice 2022; 72 (717): 169. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp22X719081
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • Fibromyalgia and chronic pain: are we asking about (and auditing) psychological trauma or traumatic events?
  • Battlefronts in Ukraine: Russian invasion and COVID-19
  • Finding primary care in the surgical ICU
Show more Life & Times

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2022 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242