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We asked a chatbot how they would save general practice, and this is what they said

We asked a chatbot how they would save general practice, and this is what they said

Dr Matt Greenwood tasked ChatGPT with writing about how NHS England could restore general practice – and it wasn’t far off the mark

The other day, I had an idea: to task ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot you have no doubt heard about, with the following: ‘Please write a fictional story of how NHS England caused the failure of general practice.’ I received the following answer:

Once upon a time, there was a national health service executive (NHSE) that was tasked with managing the country’s healthcare system. Over time, the NHSE became increasingly focused on cutting costs and improving efficiency and began to prioritise these goals above patient care and outcomes.

As a result, the NHSE implemented a series of policies and regulations that put significant pressure on GPs, the doctors responsible for providing primary care to patients. These policies included strict budget caps, increased administrative burdens and reduced reimbursement rates.

Over time, these policies made it increasingly difficult for GPs to run their practices effectively. Many struggled to provide high-quality care to their patients while also managing the financial and administrative demands placed on them by the NHSE.

As a result, many GPs were forced to close their practices, retire early or seek employment elsewhere. This caused a shortage of GPs across the country, leaving many patients without access to primary care.

Despite mounting evidence of the damage caused by their policies, the NHSE refused to change course, insisting that their approach was necessary to control costs and improve efficiency. As a result, the failure of general practice continued, with devastating consequences for patients and doctors alike.

Then, I requested: ‘Please write a fictional story of how NHS England rescued and restored general practice.’ I received the following answer:

Once upon a time, the state of general practice in England was in dire straits. The NHS was struggling to cope with the overwhelming demand for medical services, and general practice, in particular, was feeling the strain. Patients were having to wait weeks, sometimes months, to see a GP. Burnout was high among doctors, who were overworked and overstressed, and many were leaving the profession altogether.

But then, one day, the leaders of NHS England decided to take action. They recognised that general practice was the backbone of the NHS, and that it needed to be rescued and restored. So they put together a comprehensive plan to tackle the crisis.

Firstly, they increased funding to general practice, allowing more GPs to be hired and giving them the resources they needed to provide better care to their patients. They also invested in technology, such as telemedicine and electronic health records, to make it easier for GPs to communicate with each other and provide more coordinated care.

Next, they implemented measures to reduce the administrative burden on GPs, allowing them to spend more time with their patients. This included hiring more administrative staff to handle paperwork and streamlining processes to reduce bureaucracy.

They also implemented measures to support the mental health and wellbeing of GPs, recognising that they were under immense pressure and needed support. This included counselling services and peer support networks.

As a result of these measures, general practice in England began to thrive once again. Patients were able to see their GP more quickly, and doctors were able to provide more personalised and effective care. Burnout rates among GPs began to decrease, and more medical students began to consider general practice as a viable career option.

Thanks to the efforts of NHS England, general practice was rescued and restored, ensuring that patients in England had access to high-quality medical care when they needed it most.

It says something interesting when an AI chatbot has a more coherent understanding of the challenges facing general practice, as well as a more effective understanding of the solutions required, than literally hundreds of senior NHS England managers.

Dr Matt Greenwood is a GP in Horsham, West Sussex


          

READERS' COMMENTS [9]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

Nathaniel Dixon 15 February, 2023 11:56 am

This is brilliant and rather highlights how inept the current so called leadership from politicians and their NHSE stooges really is

Mohammad Choudhry 15 February, 2023 1:24 pm

Hmm, maybe we can replace NHS England bureaucrats with chatbot?

Sujoy Biswas 15 February, 2023 1:45 pm

NHS England sadly is a chatbot or at least it does chat through its bot — a lot

Darren Tymens 15 February, 2023 3:00 pm

It is hard to believe that within 60 seconds an AI chatbot can come up with a better primary care strategy than the entirety of NHSE primary care commissioning.
There is more good sense in those 400 words than in the entirety of Nikki Kanani’s output as Director of Primary Care.

A Non 15 February, 2023 3:28 pm

An AI chat box is just a computer generated summary of the average of whats on the internet. Its kind of reassuring that the truth is out there. But the truth isn’t important, its what punters want that matters. Read a comment on a story elsewhere about AI chat bots..”thank god” someone wrote “maybe we can replace our bloody awful GPs with AI” . I think they will you know. Far sooner than you think. Not everyone..just most of us. It doesn’t matter that it’d be a disaster. Its what people want.

Thomas Kelly 15 February, 2023 6:58 pm

You think that’s air your breathing now?

Decorum Est 15 February, 2023 9:59 pm

Who would have thought that the ‘inept current so called leadership from politicians and their NHSE stooges’ could be replaced by a piece of silicon smaller than a grain of salt?

David Mummery 16 February, 2023 9:09 am

One thing the Chatbot got wrong. There’s a significant number of GPs who don’t want to spend more time seeing patients

Michael Mullineux 16 February, 2023 10:50 am

Spot on DM. PCN CD’s, appraisers, CQC-inspectors, NHSE stooges etc. Can’t really blame them because the job is increasingly terrible. Perverse that in taking on these roles they in turn contribute to making General Practice the toxic environment it has become.