Tag: Generalism

This is one of the Back Pages articles I used to write for the British Journal of General Practice towards the end of my career as a GP. It was published in June 1998 and describes a true incident which had happened just before I wrote it.

I think it says something about the reality of front-line medicine which is timeless and worth repeating here.

“I see, I think I understand now – you don’t know what’s wrong.“

He’s got it.

He’s here in my evening surgery to find out why the consultant he saw this morning wants him straight in hospital.  Something about “ulcers”.  Grey, anxious face.  Deep lines deeper.  Brave, frightened eyes.

Time to recap before he leaves to face the weekend’s wait. “Three reasons you could be anaemic . . .”  Tick off the fingers.  “. . . it could be your arthritis doing it all by itself, it could be the new tablets affecting your bone marrow, or it could be the Naproxen giving you an ulcer in your stomach which is bleeding.