Preserving our legacy: The RCGP’s focus on the heritage of general practice

The one thing general practice in the UK is a world leader at is organisational change. Over the 30 plus years I’ve worked as a GP in England I’ve experienced countless structural changes from Health Authorities, Family Practitioner Committees, to Family Health Service Authorities, to Primary Care Groups, to Primary Care Trusts, to Clinical Commissioning Groups, to Integrated Care Boards. Whilst Health Boards and other structures have been more stable elsewhere in the UK, the constant change in contracts is something GPs and their teams everywhere in the UK have lived through.

The famous quote from Winston Churchill, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” can feel very relevant to those of us who experience this NHS merry-go-round. We need to not only remember our history but learn from it, and to do that we need to take the time to record and curate it.

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a relatively new Royal College compared with many others. We were founded in 1952, but we know that the history of our discipline extends back many hundreds of years. One of the first things the Foundation Council of 1953 did was to establish a Museum Collection, recognising the importance of collecting and preserving the wide range of instruments and equipment used by GPs during the last 200 years. Some of these are seen in our current Life in the doctor's bag exhibition, which explores how medical equipment and the contents of the GP’s bag has changed over the years.

But at its heart, general practice is about people: the relationship between GPs and our growing multidisciplinary teams, and the patients we care for and serve. And so as part of our learning from history, it's important to highlight the role that different groups have had on shaping our profession, something we have recently done with our Women at the heart of general practice online exhibition.

Our heritage team also plays a crucial role in supporting learning today. For instance, our records can be used to help the Infected Blood Inquiry or the UK COVID-19 Inquiry. Maintaining and, where possible, digitalising our collections now can help generations to come.

Heritage is not just looking backwards but is very much about looking forwards, having learnt lessons and applied them. It’s an important part of the work of a modern College that supports its members. As such, we are developing a heritage special interest group to help and guide us in this work. If you would be interested in joining our heritage interest group please contact advocates@rcgp.org.uk.