Good Practice: What it means to put the patient first, not politics, posturing, pretentiousness, protocols or process.

This is a text book for all doctors but especially GPs, Appraisers and Registrars. It is written by a 40 year plus front line NHS doctor who for most of his career worked twice to three times the current doctors’ Working Time Directive limited week. 

Chris Heath has been a Paediatric Lecturer in a teaching hospital, an Anaesthetist, various junior specialists and a GP for over 30 years in 3 different practices. He has been a GP Trainer and Appraiser and has seen politics and political correctness harm patients’ interests constantly over the last half of his career. From the way the NHS selects young doctors to the way they are educated and assessed, the best interests of the patient are largely ignored. 

This is a text book but it also contains home truths, advice, insights and original, honest guidance on being a safe, effective doctor. As well as giving an assessment of what has gone wrong with the NHS over the last 20 years, the author explains why today’s politicians, medical schools, Royal Colleges and many doctors will resist the changes essential to put the patients’ needs first again.

1 Politics, Who we are, The CQC etc

2 Administration, Training, The Consultation and Teaching

3 Basic Biology

4 Acute Medicine in General Practice

5 Alcohol

6 Allergy

7 Analgesics

8 Anticoagulants, Clotting

9 The Breast

10 Cancer and Terminal Care

11 Cardiology

12 Useful Clinical Signs, Eponymous diseases

13 Dermatology

14 Diabetes, Metabolism

15 Diet, Vitamins and Nutrition

16 Driving

17 Odd drugs

18 Ear, Nose and Throat

19 Gastroenterology

20 Geriatrics

21 Haematology

22 Hormones

23 Immunisation and Vaccines

24 Infections, Antibiotics, Microbiota

25 Legal Issues

26 Liver

27 Miscellaneous

28 Musculoskeletal, Orthopaedics, Sports, NSAIDs

29 Neurology

30 Ophthalmology

31 Paediatrics

32 Pathology

33 Pregnancy, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Contraception

34 Psychiatry and Controlled Drugs

35 Respiratory

36 Sex and STDs

37 Sleep

38 Travel

39 Urology

40 Work

References