Celebrate Dr Bruce Willett

What does it mean to be recognised by your peers when you received the Rose-Hunt Award at GP24?

One wonderful thing about being a GP is the extraordinary insight into people’s lives. We see people at their best (and perhaps their worst).

I have had the privilege to know many fabulous people and patients over the decades. I have witnessed their unheralded self-sacrificing and caring lives dedicated to the benefit of others. I have always been struck by the fact that their quiet achievements deserve more awards than ex-judges, celebrities and politicians who have already been rewarded, and yet receive these additional awards.

So, most of all, I feel lucky. I know so many GPs doing amazing things that are not recognised half as much as they should be. Nevertheless, I am absolutely shallow enough to have accepted the award.

How has primary care changed from when you started your career in general practice?

Computers and IT dominate our day now. We have a love-hate relationship with our computers that comes with co-dependency. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine trying to find a pathology result now from a pile of printed results haphazardly stapled to one another like a terrible homemade Christmas decoration.

There is so much red tape and documentation, and it is a wonder we find any time to treat patients. Regulators need to fully appreciate the cost they add to the healthcare system and the burden on patients.

I regret that we, as GPs, have surrendered too much of what we do – for example, emergency and procedural medicine. When I started in general practice almost four decades ago, we routinely managed broken bones, fractured bodies, eyes and sutures. It was part of our everyday life; patients expected and appreciated it. We have given up this stuff at our cost. I am now principally a chronic disease manager. And although I enjoy it, I miss the other stuff.

I would love to see the next generation of GPs capturing this back. The government would get more bang for their buck by encouraging young GPs to provide these services, rather than funding extraordinarily expensive urgent care centres.

Technology in medicine is advancing at a rapid rate – does this make you nervous or excited?

The rapid development of technology, especially AI, is exciting and terrifying. If we know one thing about new technology, it’s that we never understand all the flow-on implications. We know to expect the unexpected, and the unknown is always scary.

Every country in the world is struggling with the spiralling cost of healthcare. Over the last 50 years, technology has driven much of that cost increase; the hope is that AI will reverse the trend and make healthcare more affordable. AI will bestow an additional level of expertise that will allow everyone to extend their capabilities and work to a higher level of practice.

For now, I feel like I am a long way off from allowing my car to drive me or a robot to treat me. The challenge will be maintaining the art of medicine, humanity and empathy in what we do.

Being a practice owner has its challenges. What advice do you have for GPs who might be thinking about running their own practice?

Practice ownership is challenging; it has become increasingly more complex and bureaucratic since I began my practice. It is now much more difficult to start a practice. However, I would strongly urge all young doctors to consider practice ownership.

I have no doubt that clinician-led teams provide the best patient care. While sometimes frustrating, practice ownership is incredibly rewarding and satisfying. It is a wonderful, creative endeavour. You start with a blank page and create something new that is a reflection of yourself and your values.

You’ve contributed significantly to advocacy for GPs through various roles within the RACGP and GPSA. What would you say to junior doctors who are considering a career in general practice?

Don’t believe everything that is said about GPs and general practice in the hospital. It is worth remembering that GPs and hospitals see the worst of each other. We each see when things have potentially gone wrong in the other space.

I love being a GP; it is a rewarding career, with variety and the flexibility to practise in all different ways and all different spaces.

COVID-19 feels like a fever dream now – but what was your best moment, your worst moment, and the one thing you will take away from the pandemic?

It is hard to remember now, but there were moments of genuine fear in the early days of COVID-19. In our practice meetings, we frankly discussed the fact that we may well be putting our lives at risk by coming to work.

I am honoured to work with such a dedicated group that continued to provide face-to-face services the entire time, despite the unknowable risk.

My lesson: in future, make sure I have the courage to make the space needed to make the best decisions.

I was scheduled to take holidays at the time COVID hit, so I had no patients booked. I was able to sit in the practice, support everyone, and respond to the seemingly hourly changes in recommendations and protocols. I would not have had the sense to take the time out to do this, had I not already booked the holidays.

Who is Bruce Willett outside of medicine?

I am a recovering gadget and technology addict. I love time in my garden and bushwalking.

What is one piece of advice you would give your younger self?

Take more risks and back your judgement.