briefing
TAVABIE: Juniors, debate with your peers
Current issues facing doctors
A chance to break down barriers Back in the days before the internet killed off much of their advertising revenue, there were two magazines produced by the same commercial publisher. Their shtick – without wishing to be horribly unfair to them – was that the one aimed at GPs often blamed hospitals for many of their woes, while the one for hospital doctors pointed the finger at GPs. Inflaming professional rivalries between doctors, much like filling the tabloids with the indiscretions of soap stars, may well be good business but simply playing off one part of the profession against the other – as opposed to exploring the genuine tensions that exist between them – tends to generate more heat than light. One way in which doctors can counter this is by finding ways to come together but that’s easier said than done. Time pressures, and the artificial barriers set up by the internal market in England, mean that anecdotally there is less direct contact between primary and secondary care. This is one reason why the BMA junior members forum is a bit special – it’s in the minority of conferences which aren’t confined to one particular branch of practice or specialty. Instead, it’s open to any doctor within 11 years of full, or 12 years of provisional, registration. A number of places are reserved for medical students, too – and applications from grassroots doctors are prioritised. It is usually one of the BMA’s most over-subscribed conferences. This year’s event, in Brighton later this month, includes eminent speakers on mental health, workshops on topics such as Brexit and bullying and harassment, and a day of wide-ranging debates. At past JMFs, subjects debated have gone on to the BMA’s main policy-making forum, the annual representative meeting, and then to form policies on which the association has campaigned. It’s also a chance – as Brighton palliative care registrar and this year’s JMF chair Simon Tavabie says – for the association to involve doctors ‘not yet engaged with the BMA, helping them to find a place, and to have an impact’. For many doctors who have gone on to occupy senior roles in the BMA and the profession as a whole, the JMF was their first taste of debating issues with their peers. ‘The JMF is a place where they can hear and be heard,’ says Dr Tavabie, ‘as well as finding out what the association can do for them.’ bma.org.uk/jmf
Prevention or cure – both need proper funding The NHS’s long-term plan will save half a million lives. That was the front-page message carried by national newspapers on the day prime minister Theresa May finally unveiled the future strategy for the health service – a long-awaited document which must have gathered inches of dust while the Government’s Brexit pantomime repeatedly delayed its release. The new direction for the NHS, prompted by the Government’s rather delayed – and arguably underwhelming MAY: The future strategy of the NHS unveiled
– funding boost of £20.5bn, is not exactly a revelatory one. Prevention is important and should be front and centre of health service policy, it suggests. Doctors – and, frankly, anyone with any sense – have known this for some time. Preventing disease is cheaper than treating disease. Preventing social isolation is cheaper than treating the consequences. Preventing homelessness would be cheaper than treating the appalling physical and mental health consequences of people in one of the richest countries on earth having to sleep on freezing streets. We speak to some of them in this issue of the magazine. The NHS appears to have fired the
04 thedoctor | January 2019
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