sam tapsell

GP in North Devon

[sam tapsell @samtapsell]

@socialistp40357 I'm a GP, many of my patients need to be told to go to A&E (possible fracture, possible heart attack or stroke etc), or can give up and go home (with appendicitis which bursts). Half don't need to be there, but you only know which half after proper assessment...

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@MichaelAlbertMD Healthy longevity is still mostly lifestyle. I fear a focus on medication misses the most impactful changes a person, community or wider society can take.

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@PharmacistExpat @DrTweXet OK, always should start with BNF: weight under 50kg...looks like this has been since 2020, following advice from the Joint Formulary Committee.

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@PharmacistExpat @DrTweXet Says who? Sounds sensible in low weight / frail / old, but I cannot see this in a national guideline?

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@medicalmodelbri 111 reports are generally terrible for sharing helpful information. I would be interested to see if the important information was buried among pages of unhelpful text.

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@CrazyVibes_1 I'm a primary care doctor. Without clearer timescale and better pictures we are all just guessing...My guesses eczema herpeticum or chicken pox. Spreading small blisters...may be worth taking antiviral meds, aciclovir in UK, steroid cream, get swabs to confirm.

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@Yari_kiru @CrazyVibes_1 Nope, I've had that!

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@strangestloop A running habit: requires shoes, shorts and Bluetooth headphones if you like running to music...
Aim slow and short for first 12 months, injury is the biggest issue.

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@DrCharlesL It's easier than ever to change your GP surgery

Why not find a practice which offers a better service?

In England we now have some newly qualified GPs to employ, so if a practice is getting bigger, it can grow its staff (if premises allow)...

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@DrNeilStone This rarely was an issue when hospital was paid for each referral. But now there is a "block contract" so every patient seen generates work, rather than income for the hospital.
If GPs got money every time seen, GP appointments would dramatically increase...it's always the money!

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@HominemDad @Noahpinion You may be right, since EV within 3 to 5y are cheaper.
The problem is the downward prices are all from Chinese imports, so without laws forcing European manufacturers to go electric, they will be left for dead.

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@Emmajourno Almost every other country makes you pay something to see a GP.
Are they all wrong?

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@JimT9 @AndyatAuto How many barrels of lithium Vs barrels of oil?

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@Porketh @AndyatAuto But nobody thinks they've been influenced or advertised to, oil, car, food...
Would you want a society with everyone owning a car, sitting in traffic, getting drive through food and taking pills for obesity?
That would allow many industries to profit, but be a miserable society?

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@let_part @AndyatAuto Yup, and electric bikes have made all the hills flat. The barrier is safe routes.
Just need to do what Paris did for the last 5 years and make safe lanes the priority for infrastructure.

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@raysmith24 @AndyatAuto Solar and wind init!
If electricity is much cheaper when the wind is blowing or sun shining, people will top up accordingly, looking at forecasts for the next couple of days, like the grid does for pricing now.
All the EVs don't need to charge all the time.

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Evening all, sunset over lundy, north Devon.

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@dave_dlt What a tease!

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@ajpbradley We spent an hour outside at northam, Devon. Started with green hue "is that it?!" But became a weird searchlights hue, colours brighter on phone, and "enhance" button is several times what we saw with naked eye, but worth a look!

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@metoffice @ishantanu_ @TraceyBtint @PJPolarBear1 @olemonka Lovely in North Devon too