Are you enjoying the Proms? I’ve only been a couple of times but I love the wealth of music on offer, some familiar, some challenging.
David Sawer’s “The Greatest Happiness Principle” and the Proms Extra talk got me thinking last Saturday. We put “Happier GPs” on our askmyGP home page, because it’s a direct quote from GPs. But what might that mean? A non-stop cheesy grin, I think not.
The evidence is that we don’t consciously think of ourselves in a state of happiness (the strong conscious emotions are the negatives), but we are living in the moment. Contributors include:
doing something good for others
flow, being totally absorbed at the limit of our capability
control of our own time and efforts
It isn’t the same as an “easy life”, pleasures with which we may relax but too much of which don’t give us meaning. So we aren’t saying to GPs, put your feet up, but reflecting the kind of things they say. Last week I was in a practice where one partner reflected “I feel so much safer now” (they are dealing with all demand same day, where it had been only 40%).
In another, the manager said last Thursday they had all finished by 4pm so they went home except for the one on duty, who dealt with five calls before 6.30. That’s not every day, but most GPs would have a clinic full of patients booked three weeks ago who may or may not turn up. In contrast, knowing you are providing a fabulous service and can have that flexibility is enormously liberating.
You don’t need me to tell you that the narrative in the medical press is so different, and BMJ front page last week has BURNOUT in big capitals. But the editorial is right on the mark: “Solutions have traditionally focused on individuals and their resilience.” whereas, they continue, “A systems level approach is imperative…”
We couldn’t agree more. It’s the system.
Regards,
Harry Longman
PS this makes me a little bit happy, the first askmyGP feedback at 8 this morning, “I really like this new service and I cannot say enough how much easier this is to access medical treatment. The surgery is fantastic.” This theme is so often repeated that it’s getting boring. The meaning for me comes in asking, “How can we multiply it by ten thousand?”
Happier GPs?
Are you enjoying the Proms? I’ve only been a couple of times but I love the wealth of music on offer, some familiar, some challenging.
David Sawer’s “The Greatest Happiness Principle” and the Proms Extra talk got me thinking last Saturday. We put “Happier GPs” on our askmyGP home page, because it’s a direct quote from GPs. But what might that mean? A non-stop cheesy grin, I think not.
The evidence is that we don’t consciously think of ourselves in a state of happiness (the strong conscious emotions are the negatives), but we are living in the moment. Contributors include:
It isn’t the same as an “easy life”, pleasures with which we may relax but too much of which don’t give us meaning. So we aren’t saying to GPs, put your feet up, but reflecting the kind of things they say. Last week I was in a practice where one partner reflected “I feel so much safer now” (they are dealing with all demand same day, where it had been only 40%).
In another, the manager said last Thursday they had all finished by 4pm so they went home except for the one on duty, who dealt with five calls before 6.30. That’s not every day, but most GPs would have a clinic full of patients booked three weeks ago who may or may not turn up. In contrast, knowing you are providing a fabulous service and can have that flexibility is enormously liberating.
You don’t need me to tell you that the narrative in the medical press is so different, and BMJ front page last week has BURNOUT in big capitals. But the editorial is right on the mark: “Solutions have traditionally focused on individuals and their resilience.” whereas, they continue, “A systems level approach is imperative…”
We couldn’t agree more. It’s the system.
Regards,
Harry Longman
PS this makes me a little bit happy, the first askmyGP feedback at 8 this morning, “I really like this new service and I cannot say enough how much easier this is to access medical treatment. The surgery is fantastic.” This theme is so often repeated that it’s getting boring. The meaning for me comes in asking, “How can we multiply it by ten thousand?”
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