LETTER COLUMN

By Petra Lucien
Contact the author by e-mail at christopher.johnstone@ntlworld.com

Dear Sir

I enjoyed reading Dr Stewart’s recent article in hoolet which I came across on the Internet. My husband and I have noticed with dismay the increasing handing over of the practical work of British GPs to practice nurses, and we found your thoughts and experiences extremely interesting. We have a somewhat unusual life, in that we have spent much of the last seven years living in Belgium, where GPs are still very traditional, looking after their own patients, making home visits, and carrying out all practical tasks themselves. When our second child was born at home three years ago, our Belgian GP came and removed the placenta manually, which I found vastly preferable than going to hospital. When my husband and I needed our ears syringed, we made sure that we had this done in Belgium by a GP who we know and trust, rather than by an unknown practice nurse in England. We feel that the current trend in Britain, where patients are looked after by a "team", and are routinely asked to have invasive procedures such as cervical smears and ear syringing done by nurses who they don't even know rather than their own GP is unpleasant for patients as well as disempowering for GPs. Another interesting fact about doctors in Belgium is that despite the large amount of hands-on and "in-homes" work that they do, and their relatively modest incomes, all the GPs we have met or know of over here seem extremely happy. There is also no shortage in Belgium of doctors or of candidates for medical training - quite the reverse in fact. All of this seems to run against the prevailing idea in Britain that doctors are made happier by having fewer responsibilites and more pay. I hope that your article is read widely, and that it causes policy makers to rethink. I myself have been thinking about writing to the newspapers with the above facts and others about Belgium. I find it sad that the current trend in Britain is moving towards a system where doctors are turned into managers, and patients receive a fragmented and depersonalised service. In my opinion such a situation serves no one well.

Yours sincerely,
Petra Lucien

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hoolet is the magazine of RCGP Scotland. It is supported intellectually, financially and emotionally by RCGP Scotland.

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