The case for a greater focus on medical “expert generalists” in the NHS has been in the health policy news recently. The NHS England diagnostic review of postgraduate medical training, which I discussed in my last BMJ column, 1 was clear on the need for more doctors with good generalist skills, to reflect the reality that our ageing population has a growing number of people with multiple long term conditions. Chris Whitty, lead coauthor of that report and chief medical officer for England, made a similar case in his 2023 report Health in an Ageing Society , 2 calling for doctors with the training, skills, and mindset to support a population with those changing needs.

Doctors will increasingly be caring for patients with undifferentiated symptoms or several simultaneous conditions,

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