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Will GP’s be replaced by robots and apps?
It is one thing replacing a supermarket checkout operator with an app, or using robots in manufacturing but GP’s; really? This is surely technology gone mad as even those with the worst bedside manner have more warmth than being told you have a serious illness by a robot or an app! You can just picture the, even more so, cold and clinical doctor’s waiting room and the monotone voice announcing “Mrs Smith, Dr Bot will see you nowâ€.
So who started this story in the first place? Surprisingly, the NHS. Our National Health Service believes that that a friendly face sitting behind a desk is past its sell by date and in a world valiantly trying to keep up with the every changing technology which drives it the next step is to have an automated doctor.
So what benefits will this bring to us, the general public who rely on our GP’s to dish out heavy doses of understanding along with our prescriptions? Well the word is that this removes the element of human error. Although human error is an ongoing concern and can be extremely frustrating there is also the ‘second opinion’ option. How on earth are you going to argue with a robot that your symptoms are not what they have programmed to diagnose based on algorithms, logarithms and whatever ithms they are using?
Joking apart let’s look at what an app actually is. In short, they are little programmes on smartphones that addicts with way too much time on their hands download under the misapprehension that they will improve their lives. Some are handy granted, such as one the ones that allow you to compare prices by swiping bar codes, or the latest ones that cut the time you spend in a supermarket by half.
Then there are those clearly invented by geeks who have run out of ideas. Stuck for which radiator key you need to bleed your system? Yep, there’s one for that too. Experts will argue against this of course, and point out the benefits of the many health apps currently available, such as those which help you monitor your blood pressure without leaving your armchair.
So on the premise of that argument technology has its place in the world of healthcare. We know all this already however as ultrasound, MRI and CAT scans all play a part in modern medicine, but who operates these machines? Real people with real blood coursing through their veins not a robot wearing a white coat. The saying ‘ a place for everything and everything in its place’ seems pretty relevant in the GP v robot argument.
Technology needs to be employed where it is most needed within healthcare but not at the expense of our GP’s. Let them recommend apps that will help to stave off dementia by using the parts of the brain that are fading away, we don’t even have a problem with the voice recognition programme being used to detect nasal polyps, all we ask is that when we go and visit our GP we see somewhat with a heart not a circuit.
As Sonia Browne, director at Dream Medical comments “The point everyone seems to be missing is that for many people a GP is way more than a doctor. They are a sounding board for all their fears and problems, what will the troubled and vulnerable do when they are sitting opposite a robot, even if it is programmed to nod its head gravely at key points and is able to say “yes I understandâ€?â€