Doctors work in a team with other professionals to provide quality assistance to all patients. This is our goal and the vast majority do it with vocation, dedication and with all possible excellence, despite the many pitfalls of a health system that has resisted a deep and necessary transformation for too long. We are aware of the critical situation and the shortcomings. And, at the same time, we are saturated with the catastrophic and frustrating discourse of “everything is wrong”.
We need and deserve to be valued and to see everything we do and we do it very well, every day, with thousands of care events in consulting rooms and primary care centers, in large hospitals, in regional hospitals, in socio-health and residential centers
It is necessary to overcome the contradiction of being the professionals best valued by society, but, at the same time, living with a job that is often undervalued. We need to know and recognize the day-to-day work, the successful experiences and the voices with improvement initiatives, also disruptive, because the transformation required by the system to adapt to demographic, technological, scientific and social changes is so deep that requires a broad, critical and brave look. As doctors, it is up to us to drive and lead change, but the environment and organizational inertia are often an ankylosing barrier that appears threatening in the face of any movement.
Remembering why we became doctors is now an exercise worth doing. A look back to reunite with essential principles and values. That young man who wanted to be a doctor and longed to contribute something positive to society and improve people’s lives, who wanted to cure diseases when possible, relieve suffering often, but always accompany in uncertainty and disorder, rethink and research treatments. This is the essence of medicine, the greatest certainty. It is what society, patients, continue to need: effective and affective medicine.
And all this is particularly relevant when we talk about family medicine. The culture of immediacy and the fascination with technology have made us forget that this represents, like no other specialty, the essence of these values, because its purpose is to treat and accompany people throughout life and manage uncertainties having taking into account the needs and preferences of patients. Society needs, more than ever, professionals who can attend to and solve, when possible, health problems and illnesses, but, above all, who accompany and comfort people.
To do this, we need more resources, financial and human, and stable teams that promote care throughout the lives of patients. The evidence is stubborn in indicating that in countries with good community, social and health care, and led by family doctors, the hope and quality of life of citizens improve.
We demand fair economic, labor and professional conditions. The bureaucracy of inquiries and tasks that do not add value must be removed. And we need room for self-management and to decide what it means to be a doctor. Only then will the job get the real recognition it deserves and will it become attractive to young people. The vocation is lived 24 hours a day, but the practice of medicine must not steal our lives or make us accept unworthy conditions.
We are professionals and we practice a profession of values, knowledge, empathy, skills, responsibility and commitment. We must also assert and claim this. Having a good academic record is a great merit, but it is not a guarantee to be a good professional. And this added value is mainly given by the family doctor, but having all the tools to do the complete job.
If we want a well-protected and cohesive society, we need a strong health system, well-funded, planned and, above all, led by professionals. We cannot blame the system for solving problems that originate in areas beyond health (housing, poverty, lack of social resources…) and that often become another cause of the increase in emotional wear and tear on professionals, overwhelmed by a demand that they cannot cope with.
We need governments and political parties with the ability and willingness to take decisions beyond plugging holes and putting out fires. The consensus to deal with the transformation of the healthcare system is very broad. We only ask for determination, generosity and courage to face all challenges.
J. Padrós, president of the Official College of Doctors of Barcelona (COMB)
