TY - JOUR T1 - June Focus JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 402 LP - 402 VL - 56 IS - 527 AU - David Jewell Y1 - 2006/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/56/527/402.abstract N2 - Reading Glyn Elwyn's editorial on page 403 reminded me of Chesterton's comment on Christianity: ‘The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.’ The current scene in primary care is of valiant efforts being made to improve the ways in which we work, in lots of different areas, but finding the task more difficult than expected.For instance, it ought to be right, for lots of reasons, for patients to take more control of their own problems, but somehow it doesn't happen, even in the field of mental health (page 415). Both here and in the study on page 407 some of the barriers are familiar (not enough time, not enough explanation), but others are less comfortable: doctors finding it difficult to give up control, and patients feeling that they need more … ER -