2019 annual report Compassion SIG
Activity
Compassion SIG meeting was on 3rd July at Exeter
The focus of our meeting which was considering the impact on compassion to patients of an NHS in crisis with;
- GPs leaving the service
- GP Practices closing
- Challenges in recruitment and retention
- GPs retiring early
- Unmanageable workload
- Increasing bureaucracy
- More consultations which need to be longer due to more complexity
- New hurdles ahead such as Primary Care Networks
We discussed how GPs could maintain compassion and make sure their patients come first.
We discussed that there is much regularly written about compassion and what it is in theory, but little practical information and help provided for those in primary care in the UK and globally.
Future Plan
It was felt that a short book on this neglected and vital area of primary care would be an aid. The consensus was that we should create a book on the theme of;
"New Perspectives in Compassion for Tomorrow's Doctors" that would comprise a Protocol to ensure Compassion in Primary Care”
It was proposed that this project of the SIG would concentrate on the reflections and review of the literature from students and recently qualified doctors, together with very experienced doctors in the SIG to provide those new perspectives.
Through the SAPC there is an opportunity to record and spread this expertise sharing experiences and reflections between colleagues through this proposed book and stimulating an opportunity for further research.
Evidence of Impact of SIG - Recent publications;
Das, A., Charlton, R. Guarding against dispassion for doctors in the NHS. Journal Royal Society of Medicine. 2018. DOI: 10.1177/0141076818796193
111(10): 359–365.
Charlton, R. Editorial; Empathy or Compassion. The Hong Kong Practitioner. 2018; 40(1): 1-2.
McNally, PJ, Charlton, R., Ratnapalan, M., Dambha-Miller, H. Series on Empathy: Empathy, transference and compassion. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine; 2019, 112(10): 420–423. DOI: 10.1177/0141076819875112
How affiliation with SAPC has helped the SIG
Awareness and bringing together a group of primary care practitioners and researchers with the common goal of the overall SIG Aim on how to maintain compassion whilst working in primary care in the NHS to produce guidelines for a possible compassion protocol in primary care.