On the morning of the final day of the RCGP conference, as a few rays of sunshine poked through the heavy cloud cover that has been a shadow hanging over Glasgow for the past few weeks, it became clear how much the weather echoed the message of the conference: Times are dark and challenging in primary care, but outlooks for the future are positive with more than a glimmer of hope.
Colin Hunter, Honorary Treasurer for the RCGP, and replacement for an unwell Iona Heath as speaker, began the final plenary session by stating that the RCGP has set always aimed to develop the UK premier conference for general practice, and strongly believed that this week this has been realised in a “church of general practice”.
Justin Hughes, Managing Director for Mission Excellence, former fighter pilot and Red Arrows team leader, gave an inspirational talk on excellence and professionalism, items of worth picking out from his speech that tie into the agenda of the conference were policies for producing excellence through teamwork. As with all teams, from fighter pilots to practice staff, you can only perform as well as your lowest performer. Shared learning and experience is key, without admitting mistakes, as those involved in healthcare are too aware of, people die. There needs to be trust, honesty and teamwork to continue to deliver excellence.
Drawing the last talk of the conference to a close, and before letting attendees back out onto the rain-soaked streets of Glasgow, Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the King’s Fund, said:
“we all accept that the next period will be difficult and have many challenges, but these challenges will be met.
“If you can take away one practical thing to your place of work, then it is something I heard said in a concurrent stream by Clare Gerada [Vice-Chair of the RCGP]: ‘It is a good idea if you just went back through your list, identified every practicing doctor, and invite them in for a free health check.’
Look after yourselves and the rest will follow.
