Where did 2022 go and other medical mysteries

What a year. Flown by in a blur of telephone triage, moaning media, war, inflation and civil unrest. Many of us will be pleased to see the back of 2022 but it’s gone so fast I’m left with some important questions…

1. Where did all the CCGs go? 

Apparently they are morphed in to ICS’s but I’ve asked and my asthma patients are none the wiser. Unless the Department of Health has a secret “Honey I Shrunk the Admin” programme (mistakenly focusing on humans rather than paperwork) they aren’t hiding in an inhaler. I’m reliably informed by a GP friend who “does management” that there are systems in places in your neighbourhood – sounds like a conspiracy if ever I heard one.

2. Where did all the covid go?

At the start of the year there were 200 thousand new cases a day, now there are almost none. We beat it. Well, possibly beat it… hard to tell without testing but it’s all about the optics. Meanwhile there’s been a suspiciously high level of fever and cough coming through the practice the past few weeks. If only there was a way to tell the cause… Until then I’m keeping my mask on.

3. Where did all the health secretaries go?

We’re on our 4^th this year so far, even if Steve Barclay is two of them. Despite plenty of research showing the benefits of continuity in healthcare, the evidence doesn’t suggest the same is true for politics.

4. Where did all the antibiotics go? 

In viral children mostly. At least the antibiotic excess is tailing off, if only because the nation’s run out. No liquid left? Need to treat a child? Can’t swallow tablets? Drop a few capsules in a box of Tic Tacs they’ll be gone in no time at all.

5. Where did all the GPs go?

I don’t mean the 5000 promised by the government (turns out hope alone can’t make GPs), I mean the real ones doing the work. If they were sensible they moved to Cornwall. But whatever you do, don’t tell the press as they fail to understand the crucial point: a GP remote consulting for their patients is better than the alternative: no GP at all. 

And where did all the fun go? I’m hoping it's at your place because after this year you deserve it. I’ll see you there. Have a happy new year everyone!