GPs in England 'unconfident' discussing physical activity with patients – report: Less than two-thirds of doctors feel
2017-08-15 16:02:56
GPs in England 'unconfident' discussing physical activity with patients – report: Less than two-thirds of doctors feel confident discussing activity levels and almost a third have never heard of national guidelines.
"The majority of doctors in England are unfamiliar with recommended
levels of physical activity, with fewer than two-thirds confident about
discussing the topic with their patients, researchers have revealed.
Set out in July 2011 by the Chief Medical Office,
national guidelines
recommend that adults aged between 19 and 64 undertake 75 minutes of
intense activity or 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week."
Chair of the Royal College of GPs Professor
Helen Stokes-Lampard has responded to the report saying, "It’s really important that GPs and our teams are aware of up to date
clinical guidelines around physical activity - and the tools available
to us to best implement them in the best interests of our patients - so
it is clear from this research that more needs to be done by Public
Health England and others to ensure these resources are readily
available to GPs."
The challenge to those working in general practice is huge - how can individuals stay up to date and confident across so many national guidelines? It is easy to be critical if you do not appreciate the pressure that general practice in the UK is currently under. However, it is also too easy to over-interpret a particular survey (not validated, generated by an advisory panel, and delivered as 6 MCQs on doctors' web platform, reaching a self-selected 'sample' of opinion) that should really be considered as a hypothesis-generating observation and not an accurate measure of GP learning needs.
Source: www.theguardian.com
activity gps physical guidelines discussing confident two-thirds national
Related: