Consulting in a Nutshell (PDF)

Jamie is an enthusiastic and fulfilled GP, committed husband, and father to two boys. Qualified from Birmingham in 2002, he is currently a training programme director for West Birmingham VTS and Chair of the RCGP Midland Faculty. He recalls that when as a medical student he was questioned about his CV's mention of artistic interests, he described the practice of medicine as an art. He is delighted to keep utilising the creativity from life before training in this book, as well as in his practice, VTS websites and social media activities as @ArtfulDoctor. Jamie's video-poem extolling the virtues and privileges of general practice, 'The National Health,' won the RCGP Midland Faculty's 'Inspiration' competition. Further pieces on general practice followed, with #GP150w (GP in 150 words), and cross-Faculty collaborations such as the Christmas-themed 'The Night Before CQC,' #12daysofGP, and #GPKipling, a video communicating the diversity of our workforce in a GP-themed rewrite of Kipling's 'If.' The #GPKipling video launched the RCGP Annual Conference in 2019, and the Billy Joel-inspired, GP-themed 'Start the Fire' launched the RCGP Annual Conference in 2021. He was awarded RCGP Faculty Champion in 2022. His short illustrated film examining the evidence for continuity of care within a storytelling narrative entitled 'GP's a Wonderful Life' featured on The General Practice Podcast in 2023. His illustrations have featured at RCGP Annual Conference, in GPfrontline, RCGP InnovAiT, and of course in Roger Neighbour's The Inner Physician (2016).


About the Foreword to 1st Edition author


Helen Stokes-Lampard  DBE MBBS(Lon) PhD FRCGP DSc(Med) DFSRH DRCOG


Helen Stokes-Lampard is a practising GP partner in Lichfield, Staffordshire. She was Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the umbrella organisation for all medical disciplines, from 2020 to 2023. She is also a past Chair of the RCGP 2016-2019, having held many other roles there over the years. Additionally, she is a Professor of GP Education at the University of Birmingham and Chair of the National Academy for Social Prescribing, an independent charity established to promote the concepts and build the evidence base around social prescribing. Helen is naturally enthusiastic, a passionate advocate for person-centred care in its widest sense, and an experienced public speaker.


About the Foreword to 2nd Edition author


Rich Withnall KHS OStJ MA MD MSc MBBS FRCGP FRCP FAcadMEd SFFMLM CMgr

Rich is a Professor of General Practice, the Royal College of General Practitioners' Chief Examiner, and Medical Director for International Education and Training. He is also Chief Executive and Responsible Officer of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, the professional home for medical leadership in the UK. He qualified from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London, in 1992. He served in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, rising to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal and becoming Director of Defence Healthcare. He has been an Honorary Surgeon to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III.