We’re in a permacrisis – so what?

Columnist Dr Katie Musgrave says we need to come up with a workable solution to the healthcare crisis instead of just complaining about it

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a bit exhausted by crises. They seem to be everywhere, circling like a troupe of grim reapers out on the prowl. If you open any newspaper, you’ll read about a crisis on nearly every page: there is an obesity crisis; a climate crisis; an immigration crisis; a cost-of-living crisis. And that’s before we even look beyond the UK’s shores. Everything is in crisis, and nothing can be fixed.

This emotion was illustrated perfectly by my sweet mother-in-law at Christmas. She is happily married, travels widely, lives in a very comfortable house, and is financially secure. She also has plenty of loving family and friends, as well as oodles of healthy grandchildren. On saying goodbye, she wished us a happy 2024, mumbling under her breath that 2023 had been ‘pretty terrible’. Had it? I wondered. Looking down at my beaming, joyful children, I struggled to share the sentiment.

Now, I know there will be some of you reading this who will criticise, saying something about me being self-centred, ignorant and disinterested in the plight of others who are less fortunate. But I’m simply trying to make a point: it’s not that there isn’t difficulty and strife in the world (name a moment in history when there hasn’t been), it’s just that endlessly shrieking about crises helps nobody. We have to elevate our narrative, and develop practical solutions.

So, the GP recruitment crisis has apparently suddenly become a GP employment crisis. Spare me. For once, can we acknowledge the fact that the UK actually has a fairly reasonable number of GPs. It’s just many are currently working only a few sessions per week, or have retired in their early fifties (in response to a dysfunctional and grossly mismanaged health service). The rest of us are processing countless appointment requests about all manner of self-limiting illnesses or non-medical issues, as no one has the wherewithal to persuade patients to manage their own health without running trivial matters past a GP.

As far as I can tell, the real crisis – and one which dwarfs all others – is that of political courage and leadership. No one dares say that the NHS does not have the cure for all ills and cannot go on functioning as it is. No one will acknowledge that we are consistently failing to deliver safe and accessible primary care, emergency care, maternity care, surgical care, and all the rest.

Our healthcare system is completely and utterly broken, from top to bottom. Yes, I agree there’s a crisis. I’m just waiting for someone – anyone – to propose a workable solution.

Dr Katie Musgrave is a GP in Devon and quality improvement fellow for the South West