Last week Barbara and I were at the Royal College of General Practitioners Annual Conference in Harrogate. What I noticed most on reflection was that, despite the pressure that the profession is under at present, many people were expressing a huge passion for social justice. In fact the programme seemed set up to deliver this, though no doubt my impression was increased by the parallel sessions I chose to attend. From education director Mark Purves struggling to get more doctors to underserved areas to Camila Batmanghelijh describing the desperate lives of children surrounded by violence and neglect, as well as many other speakers, for me a theme emerged. I suppose I could summarise it by saying that as GPs we have a unique responsibility, to use our knowledge, skills and commitment to serve those who most need us. It's not enough to respond to those who present their needs to us; they are sometimes the ones who have least need. We should find ways to seek out the children at risk, the frail with multiple long term conditions, the victims of domestic violence, who may all lack the ability to seek help for themselves. We can't take refuge in what was repeatedly referred to as "box-ticking", although this may represent a sort of quality to the extent that it is evidence-based. Instead we have to listen to the person in front of us, and seek to bring our expertise to bear on their problems and arrive at a shared solution in partnership with others. We knew this already but it was good to be so eloquently reminded of our vocation.
With two weeks to go to our departure for Uganda, today I have been busy preparing a short presentation I will make on the 19th October, to the 30th anniversary meeting of Global Care in Coventry. Doing this has reminded me again of last year's experiences and how I felt meeting the children in Uganda who experience such challenges. I hope I will do them justice in my talk and that we can help extend the work in breadth and depth during our visit.