The immeasurable kindness of GPs

As a GP who retired at the end of last year, having worked the last nine months of my career in primary care in London, I have been despairing when I hear repeated criticism aimed at GPs. So thank you, Zoe Williams, for your kindness (GPs are full of kindness and wisdom – so why do they face constant criticism?, 14 September). I would only like to question the words “usually quite tiny” used to describe their acts of kindness and wisdom, which caused me to reflect.

As a GP, you need to use enormous amounts of kindness and mental energy to generate empathy, and to enable the full use of your knowledge and experience to deal with a vast variety of problems. Working remotely for patient safety means you often have to plumb new depths of your psychological resources to maintain standards. Mistakes can cause medical errors, or misunderstandings and upset.

I don’t think any GPs would agree that the kindness and wisdom used every day at the frontline of primary care is tiny.
Dr Kate Cabot
London

• It’s not face-to-face contact that I miss with my GP surgery (Letters, 14 September), but its preventive role in my healthcare. I take medicaments to control my blood pressure and cholesterol, and I use inhalers for my asthma. I used to have annual checkups for these conditions, usually carried out by a nurse and reported to a doctor if necessary, which provided an opportunity to express any worries. I hope this routine preventive healthcare role can be resumed as it provided valuable oversight and reassurance.
Bernadette Sanders
Norwich

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