TY - JOUR T1 - The impact of remote consultations on brief conversations in general practice JF - BJGP Open JO - BJGP Open DO - 10.3399/BJGPO.2021.0199 VL - 6 IS - 2 SP - BJGPO.2021.0199 AU - Faraz Mughal AU - Helen Atherton AU - Hassan Awan AU - Tom Kingstone AU - Aaron Poppleton AU - Victoria Silverwood AU - Carolyn A Chew-Graham Y1 - 2022/06/01 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/6/2/BJGPO.2021.0199.abstract N2 - The consultation between the family doctor and patient is the cornerstone of general practice, supporting relationship-based care and continuity: which can improve patient outcomes.1,2 It enables rapport to be established and provides a setting to begin conversations on sensitive topics such as weight management in a patient with osteoarthritis, or alcohol consumption in someone with elevated liver function tests. Brief conversations in general practice are introductory enquiries or exchanges that are initiated by the GP, often as a stepping stone to more detailed discussions, to improve patient’s capability to make positive changes for their health and wellbeing.Clinical encounter with familyFM recollects a face-to-face consultation in 2016 as a GP, where after handling the initial presenting problem of the child, he spoke to the parents about the child’s diet. He discovered that the parents provided the child with fast food (chicken and chips) each day for dinner after school. The parents were not aware that this was detrimental to their child’s health. FM used this disclosure to provide brief advice on the importance of a balanced diet and offered some low-cost, easy-to-prepare alternatives.Dealing with and managing the patient’s presenting complaint is important, but using the opportunity to explore aspects of health promotion, prevention, and behaviour change is key to realising the exceptional potential of the primary care consultation.3 Leaning on the Making Every Contact Count public health initiative, GPs can use consultations to initiate brief conversations, which in turn can lead to the delivery of interventions and potentially result in long-lasting benefits for patients and … ER -