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MEDIA SAVVY
WHO’S BEEN SAYING WHAT..?
Home Office ministers and officials shudder at the mention of the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. It is a hotbed of internal
politics in which the threat of a resignation or a howl of protest
against government policy is never far away… What never seems to
concern the committee’s members is that they are there to advise –
not issue edicts which must be automatically followed by ministers.
James Slack,
Daily Mail
, 7 February
Dr Hans-Christian Raabe, we hardly knew ye. After just two weeks
into his new job on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Dr
Raabe, a devout Christian, has been fired for not revealing that he
wrote a paper back in 2005 which linked homosexuality with
paedophilia... Whatever the reason, it’s good that he’s gone. The
ACMD is meant to assess evidence, and it seems that Dr Raabe’s
relationship with evidence was tangential at best.
Tom Chivers,
The Telegraph
, 7 February
Esoteric ideological debates over ‘localism’ have become pretty
meaningless – though the right find it a useful distraction from the
brutality of the cuts. The coalition brand of localismmeans the axe is
devolved, along with the blame. Brazen denial, outrageous abuse of
figures, and accusations of (Labour) council profligacy are their
weapons of choice.
Polly Toynbee,
The Guardian
, 11 February
One South London council appointed a full-time adviser to deal with
the very special needs of gay alcoholics…You can map the faddism of
the past couple of decades from the back copies of the
Guardian
jobs
pages. In the 1990s we were all going to die of Aids, so no council was
complete without a dedicated HIV unit… At one stage, I worked out
there were more people in Britain earning a living from Aids than
actually dying from it.
Richard Littlejohn,
Daily Mail
, 15 February
The very idea of the Big Society was fundamentally flawed the
moment Demolition Dave began wrecking neighbourhoods. Two
thirds of people think it’s spin to distract attention from the damage
of cuts. I’mworried the other third are gullible. For Cameron to expect
volunteers to plug the gaps he creates in public services is to wish for
apple pie and motherhood. Cameron, and in fairness to the former
telly PR man he’s never been accused of deep thought, fails to grasp
the relationship between individuals and families with communities,
markets and government.
Kevin Maguire,
Daily Mirror
, 9 February
7 March 2011 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 29
Media Savvy |
Post-its
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
As a teaching practice we have lots of junior
doctors and trainee GPs working with us.
As part
of their induction, each one sits in with me and
meets a range of patients who have drug and/or
alcohol problems. Each of these juniors’ reactions
tends to be a little different but they mainly fall
into two groups – those who want to engage with
this area of work and those who want to run a
mile. Our last two juniors really brought this
difference home to me.
The first doctor joined us about two months
ago. Since then, she has covered for me while I was
away, is presenting a paper at our Royal College of
General Practitioners (RCGP) 16th conference in
May, and has just completed her RCGP Certificate in
Drug Dependency Part 1. The other arrived a few
weeks ago, sat in with me last week, and was a
complete contrast. As a woman shared intimate
details of her life being brought up in care, she
seemed totally uninterested. As she told us that
she felt she had failed her daughter, herself ten
years in care and recently reunited, she fiddled with
bits of paper. I was appalled at the doctor’s
insensitivity and tried to shield my patient from
her. As she was barely out of the door, the junior
doctor said, ‘I haven’t got your patience. I couldn’t
sit and listen to that rubbish every day, and she was
drunk you know!’ I was speechless and it was only
later that I was able to challenge her about her
behaviour.
Which makes me wonder – what makes two
people of similar age, education and culture behave so differently? Their reactions
are not unique. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) report
Whole person recovery: a
user centred approach to problem drug use
(
DDN
, 6 December 2010, page 18)
shows that GP involvement is seen by service users as a key element of care.
Although many people receive the care they need, some patients have negative
experiences when they approach their GPs.
Medical education is changing. Drug and alcohol problems now form a section
of undergraduate medical training and the general practice curriculum, though
this doesn’t seem to have helped the second junior who sat in with me. SMMGP
will continue to encourage increased awareness of drug and alcohol issues
through the promotion of knowledge and understanding. With the RSA, we are
developing a range of user-led innovations, including a training pack for GPs.
Prejudice mainly exists through ignorance, which we can help to address, but is
there something more we can do?
I feel privileged to work with people who use drugs and/or alcohol. They have
taught me much about both my work and myself. As a group of patients, they
constantly change on their journey and I am proud to join them on it for as long
they wish. I feel sad that the second doctor may never experience this.
Post script:
Thank you so much to all those who contributed to Angie’s funeral, from me, the
SMMGP team and Angie’s family and friends (DDN, 7 February, page 21). You were
generous, and a good send-off was had.
Dr Chris Ford is a GP at Lonsdale Medical Centre and clinical lead for SMMGP,
www.smmgp.org.uk
Post-its from Practice
Education, natureor nurture?
What makes a good GP, asks
Dr Chris Ford
‘I haven’t
got your
patience. I
couldn’t sit
and listen to
that rubbish
every day,
and she was
drunk you
know!’