The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
-
Domestic abuse (DA) is underdiagnosed by the medical community. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not recommend DA screening in primary care. The enduring use of remote consultations since COVID-19, coupled with the sensitive nature and increasing prevalence of DA, necessitates review of the NICE guideline, which was developed pre-pandemic primarily for face-to-face consultations. ⋯ The routine use of the already established WAST-short in primary care could help identify and potentially tackle DA. Training health and social care professionals in administering the brief, non-threatening DA screening questionnaire would help raise awareness, and identify and support victims.
-
General practice experienced significant challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been little exploration of the experiences of nurses working in general practice and the impact on care delivery, job satisfaction, workload, stress and professional support. Understanding these experiences can inform future practice. ⋯ The pandemic has laid bare challenges faced by nurses in general practice. Nurses require specific support to maintain professional wellbeing and to aid retention.
-
Each woman's experience of the perimenopause and/or menopause is individual and unique. Research shows women from ethnic minorities often have different experiences from their White peers, and these are not being considered in conversations about the menopause. Women from ethnic minorities already face barriers to help-seeking in primary care, and clinicians have expressed challenges in cross cultural communication including the risk that women from ethnic minorities' perimenopause and/or menopause health needs are not being met. ⋯ There is a need for increased awareness and trustworthy information resources to help women from ethnic minorities prepare for the menopause, and clinicians to recognise their experiences and offer support. This could improve women's immediate quality of life and potentially reduce future disease risk.
-
Omission of pelvic examination (PE) has been associated with diagnostic delay in women diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. However, PEs are often not carried out by GPs. ⋯ GPs' reasons for carrying out, or not carrying out, PEs in women with symptoms potentially indicating cancer are complex. The COM-B framework provides a way of understanding this complexity. Interventions to increase the use of PEs, and critics of its non-use, need to consider these multiple factors.