TY - JOUR T1 - Recognising the value of a bunch of tulips in general practice JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 282 LP - 282 DO - 10.3399/bjgp22X719693 VL - 72 IS - 719 AU - Emma Ladds Y1 - 2022/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/72/719/282.abstract N2 - ‘How are you doctor? I was sorry to hear you’d been unwell.’I looked across at the woman sitting across from me.* A surgical mask obscured her face above the angry scar on her neck but her eyes were smiling and kind, tinged with real concern. I had a packed day of emotionally-intense patients and my head was full of heart-wrenching tales of Ukrainian refugees, messages from colleagues about work, and anxieties about finding last-minute patients to teach medical students tomorrow. Really, I just wanted to go back to bed! I smiled back at her, invisible behind my mask, and touched her arm, ‘That’s so kind. Not so bad. How are you?’I read Dr Gerada’s article (www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/22/ my-30-years-as-gp-profession-horribly- eroded-clare-gerada) with great sadness. In it she mourns the ‘horrible erosion’ of general practice, describing medically complex patients whose care is complicated by poor communication between services and reduced community support, the frustrating expectations of centralised ‘call centres’, and the relentless workload — all horribly familiar. Above everything, she laments the decline of personal relationships with patients and the shame and helplessness that arise from their absence.Like Dr … ER -