"Masks at Meadford." Retired Doctors

This  is one of series of co-created drawings that has been developed through continuing discussions and shadowing of staff at Torbay hospital to explore experiences of burn out and response to the word ‘wellbeing’.  Staff are encouraged to talk about and visualise meaning and metaphor in their work and environment. 

This work was produced as part of a residency with Torbay and South Devon Healthcare Trust 2022 -2025, funded by NHS Charities Together and will be part of a permanent exhibition in the historic boardroom at Torbay Hospital.

Retired Doctors A and B  A: There are many happy memories of our days in Medical School, it was a tough course with an enormous amount to learn and practical skills to master. We spent a fair amount of time learning the basics; things like taking blood tests, recording blood pressure, amongst other things; all practiced on each other. But those well-learned skills lasted throughout our careers (the bruising lasted a while as well). 

A: (to B) You inherited your Dad’s old sphygmomanometer when he retired from General Practice; all the old equipment which used mercury had to be replaced. I think we lost quite a lot when these old machines became redundant; with them one could actually hear the blood pressure through the stethoscope thereby judging the subtle, important sound changes, we were also looking at, touching and interacting with the patient whilst taking a very accurate blood pressure reading.

 A: I am very fond of this old, Bakelite sphyg. because it was my Dad’s. He qualified as a doctor in 1950, so pretty soon after the start of the NHS. You (to A) talked to Dad a lot, didn’t you, when you first went into General Practice, about how hard he worked - a different era again. 

A: Yes, if ever I had a challenging day in the surgery, it was always good to think back on his stories and appreciate how hard and heavy his workload was. He put so much into his medical career and had tremendous love and respect from his patients.

 B: Practising medicine is like detective work, picking up clues from the patient all of the time, from the moment they arrive: how they walk, the shake of their hand, their mood, demeanour, eye-contact, etc. This gathering of information becomes almost subconscious. Of course, when you are having to consult over the phone or on-line, all of that information is missing. It would be a sad loss if increasing amounts of patient care had to be undertaken remotely. 

A: So care is an important word isn’t it? I would say that most patients want to have a face-to-face relationship with their doctor. To be seen, listened to, understood and treated with kindness and compassion. I hope we don’t lose that in this more technological era of medicine. 

B: I think there has been a significant shift in the way GP’s operate since the pandemic. There has been a necessary increase in telephone and on-line consultations in order to protect patients and staff. The once busy GP waiting rooms are now a thing of the past. Unfortunately this can give the impression that not much is happening in the surgery; which is absolutely not the case! Covid has had a significant impact on the way General Practice is delivered and I don’t think we will see the impact of this for many years. 

A: There is now so much information on Social Media and various Search Platforms, often leading to confusion for the patients, longer consultations and, sadly, erosion of doctor-patient trust. There isincreasing use of algorithms in medical management, and treatments are now much more evidence-based (which is good) but sometimes one’s intuition, in the context of knowing the patient well, can become a less important factor in current patient management.