(Is there a clinical future for the general practitioner?)

The general practitioners of the future will be "..highly skilled medical generalists and information specialists and the only essential doctors at the whole of healthcare practice" writes Dr Toby Lipman in this week's BMJ. Commenting on recent claims that the role of the general practitioner in the future will become redundant, Dr Lipman writes that "...the exponential growth of information and technical capability will need expert management". He believes that "...general practitioners will have a key role in helping patients make complex decisions about diagnosis and treatment." Everything else, he says, "..will be done by nurses, technicians and robots."

Contact:

Dr Toby Lipman, General Practitioner and Northern and Yorkshire Research Training Fellow, Westerhope Medical Group, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne [email protected]