Twenty years ago Gabbay and le May published research that described the ways in which GPs work, generating knowledge by creating practice-based evidence, or what has been termed ‘knowledge-in-context’.
This is the framework that enables GPs to utilise but move beyond scientific evidence to deliver healthcare tailored to the needs of their patients and communities.
The concept of knowledge-in-context is being undermined by the current pressures in the system, by the nature of workforce training and even by the way we talk about the soft skills of practice. General practice is losing control of the knowledge work of daily practice needed for whole-person healthcare.
At an RCGP conference workshop in 2017, a packed room recognised these concerns and decided to take action. From that conversation grew WiseGP. WiseGP champions, fosters and maintains the knowledge work of front-line general practice.
WiseGP is already delivering changes on the ground. It underpins the CATALYST programme driving workforce change in Humber & Yorkshire and delivering re-energised GPs. The Society for Academic Primary Care and the RCGP are now working to establish a WISE Institute, translating WISE approaches into practice design in order to re-vitalise the work of general practice.
WiseGP is reclaiming the knowledge work of whole person healthcare which defines our speciality.
Join us in reclaiming General Practice.
This article first appeared in an RCGP Weekly Update on 23 Sept 2022