GP jumps into the ‘Deep End’ for Churchill Fellowship

The healthcare issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and disadvantaged communities in Australia may seem a world away from Scotland, but it was here that Dr Tim Senior found surprising similarities – and an innovative solution to connect and empower doctors working on the frontlines.
 
The ‘Deep End GPs’ network was founded in Scotland, which has one of the lowest life expectancies in Western Europe, to connect doctors working in the 100 most socio-economically deprived communities.
 
This peer-to-peer advocacy group, founded in 2009, has proven to be a powerful force, influencing training, local health policies and providing peer support for GPs working in challenging and often overwhelming environments.
 
Dr Senior, who is Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Poverty and Health and works in the Aboriginal community controlled health sector, first stumbled across the concept of ‘Deep End GPs’ in a British medical journal and was surprised to see them tackling many of the same issues he had been facing.
 
‘Here I was, on the other side of the world, working with problems that we told ourselves were related to being Aboriginal, and they were seeing exactly the same sort of problems in deprived communities in Scotland,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘Their description of their work was exactly the work I was doing as well.’
 
The uncanny connection stayed with Dr Senior long enough for him to apply and be awarded a Churchill Fellowship grant, and so he set off to the other side of the globe to find out more.
 
‘I was thinking really about the problems of health that we have related to poverty in Australia,’ he said.
 
‘They have an overlap with rural and remote health and have an overlap with Aboriginal health.’
 
His research trip took him across England, Ireland and Scotland where he connected with several ‘Deep End’ groups and GPs, learning more about how the system works.
 
What stuck out to Dr Senior was how history had repeated itself.
 
‘Even though we’re working in completely different health systems, we keep recreating the same problems,’ he said.
 
‘We have health systems that people feel uncomfortable in and excluded by.
 
‘Everyone was struggling with mental health services, the lack of availability, and that was across the board.’
 
Despite those challenges, Dr Senior found that not only were GPs vital in connecting vulnerable people back to health services, but they were stronger when supporting each other.
 
‘GPs are very good at forming trusting relationships with people who are excluded from health systems, and the impact that has, I saw firsthand,’ he said.
 
‘But one of the things that is really important for Australia, that I think is achievable, is the importance of peer support and recognition of the work GPs are doing in deprived communities.
 
‘There’s a lot of GPs doing that work and it has a name, it’s “Deep End” general practice.’
 
He said the connection between the practitioners has led to stronger links to local communities and services.
 
Now that he has returned to Australia, Dr Senior is aiming to foster those relationships at home and bring back what he has learnt.
 
‘I’ve already been speaking to GPs and my colleagues at work about it and the importance of just looking out for each other,’ he said.
 
‘I’m really keen that something concrete comes out of it, that GPs and other primary healthcare staff, particularly those working in deprived communities, can advocate for local, state and national systems that are more supportive for healthcare professionals and therefore better for patients who have struggled to access health systems.’
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health Churchill Fellowship general practice research research