An Online Conference for Family Doctors during the World Family Doctor Day by UK-Medu in Collaboration with the Chinese Community Doctors Magazine

The contributions of family doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic are essential and significant. They helped to share the responsibilities of testing, quarantine observations, emergency response, home visits etc. The general practitioners (GPs) are part of the primary care team in the UK National Health Service (NHS). They serve the community by providing medical treatments, advice and referral, management of long-term conditions etc. During the 10th World Family Doctor Day on 19th May 2020, UK-Medu collaborate with the Chinese Community Doctors Magazine to host an online conference for the GPs between UK and China to discuss the importance of GPs during this pandemic and exchange experiences that are beneficial for future practice. The Zoom conference led by 6 GPs experts from both countries was held from 12:00-14:00 (Beijing Time 19:00-21:00) and broadcasted live by Medmeeting.com which attracted around 3000 viewers.

The Christie Hospital is the largest medical and research centre of tumour treatment in the UK, while the Hubei Cancer Hospital is the best cancer specialist hospital in Wuhan. The main aim for the conference is to discuss the care plan for cancer patients during this pandemic. The conference was led by 3 experts from Hubei Cancer Hospital. They described the policies they adapted which involve temperature checking, chest CT, Covid-19 Antibody test, chemotherapy, immunosuppressant treatment, surgeries etc. The experts also shared the steps they took to prevent healthcare associated infection. The 12 experts from The Christie Hospital were also able to express their concerns about managing their number of patients, disinfecting the surgery suites, demand on protective gears etc. The conference was scheduled to be for one and a half hours, but it was extended to two hours due to the intense discussions.

Two main topics were discussed during the conference:
1. The responsibilities of GPs from both countries facing the pandemic;
2. Management of long-term conditions during the pandemic in GPs setting
The GPs experts shared the adapted policies to combat the pandemic from their respective countries, the responsibilities of GPs during this important period and difficulties faced while combating the virus. The Chinese GPs also kindly shared the ACT model, which consist of Administration, Community health service center, Trinity mechanism that are helpful to manage the situation in a community setting, and their innovations on the management of long-term conditions during the pandemic. The conference which was planned to last for 2 hours was highly supported by the viewers which resulted in an additional hour of discussion.

The viewers are allowed to raise their concerns through the live broadcast, these questions include: how did the UK manage the shortage of resources at the beginning of crisis if there is any; how did the UK GPs keep track of the vital measurements of patients with long-term conditions; how did the Chinese GPs provide their service to the registered patients etc. The viewers commented that the conference was meaningful. Mr. Kevin Liu, the Director of UK-Medu and Mdm. Jing Chen, President of the Chinese Community Doctors Magazine send their regards and respects to the GPs at the end of the conference. They also hope that similar conference could be held again to provide a platform for experts from both countries to share their experiences and benefit from each other.

Conference in progress