Last Monday I wrote a blog on the unhappiness of patients, GPs and government. On Friday, I read the shocking story of a GP on Twitter who died by suicide (may her soul find peace).
I got back home and briefly talked about it with my ladies. My eldest daughter got up from where she sat across the kitchen island, came over and gave me a hug. I heard her unspoken words – “Dad whatever happens, please don’t leave us…”
There are two primary ways to improve General Practice:
- Reduce demand
- Increase supply.
Much effort into improving general practice focuses on increasing supply. How can we reduce demand? This verse from the good book is interesting: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…” Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
In a previous blog we quoted the Global Wellness Institute which defined wellness as “the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.” If there ever was a time for people to live healthy lives in the UK, now is the time because General Practice, the bedrock of the National Health Service is on its knees. One school of thought is that there is a surreptitious move to destroy General Practice through chronic underfunding, paving the way for American-style Health Insurance corporations to take over. Time will tell, though this may be too late for people who pay little attention to their wellbeing today and end up with avoidable multiple Long Term Conditions (LTCs). Unfortunately, at such a time in the future, ‘care based on need’ would have been replaced by ‘care based on ability to pay’.
We all know what constitutes healthy living. It has not changed. The messages are timeless:
- Smoking causes lung cancer
- Too much sugar can lead to Diabetes
- Fatty foods can clog the arteries and cause heart attack or stroke
- Excess salt can cause hypertension
- Lack of exercise can cause Obesity
- Poor sleep can cause Anxiety & Stress
- Unprotected sex can lead to infections and Infertility
- If you drink don’t drive, etc.
A healthy lifestyle brings good health. According a 2018 publication on the Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancy, adherence to 5 low-risk lifestyle-related factors (never smoking, a healthy weight, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and moderate alcohol consumption) could prolong life expectancy at age 50 years by 14.0 and 12.2 years for female and male US adults compared with individuals who adopted zero low-risk lifestyle factors.
Healthy people do not need GP appointments except for screening and health protective invitations. To help improve GP services and reduce demand, we have a collective responsibility to look after our bodies and our minds. Are you looking after yourself?
Knowledge alone does not change behaviour. Who does not know smoking causes lung cancer? Why do we still have over 6 million smokers in the United Kingdom? It has been suggested that 80% of the factors which keep us healthy are outside the health service!
There are those factors outside our control which influence our health behaviour. Whether we say ‘yes’ to healthy lifestyle activities (such as regular physical activity and a diet rich in vegetables but low in fatty, fried, salty, sugary foods) or find it near impossible to give up smoking / drinking or keeping late nights depends on the interaction of complex factors. These include conditions into which we are are born, live, grow, school, work, play and pray; the quality of air and water we have access to, as well as the health behaviours of our family, friends and people around us. How well government invests in improving the social factors for those in greatest need is the biggest player to our health behaviours.
That said, if the government is not accountable to the people by putting resources where the need is greatest, we cannot fold our hands and expect our GPs to provide the answers. There is a wealth of information available to all of us to support our quest for healthier lives.
Ten Resources:
- https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/
- https://oneyouleeds.co.uk/ (for people in Leeds)
- Practice websites e.g. https://www.allertonwestfield.nhs.uk/services/nhs-health-information/
- Flyers & Posters in GP surgeries
- For children: https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools/topics/our-healthy-year/overview
- “Dr Google”
- https://patient.info/healthy-living
- Online GP software
- https://bslm.org.uk/lifestyle-medicine/what-is-lifestyle-medicine/
- World Health Organisation
How about taking a quick look in two places – the mirror and your hands. What do you see?
When the chips are down (literally), your life(style) is in your hands.
Abiye Hector-Goma is a General Practitioner based in Leeds, UK who cares about his 10k patients and the local communities where his practices are based. With primary responsibility for his wife, daughters, nephews, nieces, cousins and the rest of the extended family he is keen to pursue a work-life balance with the help of better-informed patients, hence this blog.
@KayHector
ExpertPatients@outlook.com
www.kayhector-proactivehealth.com