As the world mourns the loss of the exceptional talents of Philip Seymour Hoffman, perhaps one fitting tribute to his passing from a suspected drug overdose would be to focus […]
Latest articles
Catherine Foot: Can the Care Quality Commission live up to expectations?
This week marks one year since Robert Francis published his second report into failures of care at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust. Mid Staffs director of quality and patient experience, Julie […]
Kate Granger: Why compassionate care is so important
Having terminal cancer is rubbish. There is no way of getting around that fact. I’ve just spent nearly a week in hospital feeling exceptionally unwell and at times wondering whether […]
Ahmet Ozdemir Aktan: Criminalising doctors in Turkey—an update
Professor Aktan has written an update to his previous blog about a new Turkish law which forbids medical treatment of injured protesters without state permission. The law is now signed […]
Kieran Walsh: Medical education—high value but high cost?
Medical education has undergone many reforms over the past thirty years. Medical students of the past spent much time learning things they didn’t need to know—today medical education is curriculum […]
Billy Boland on quality improvement at the NHS Leadership Academy
The first residential for the NHS Leadership Academy felt barely five minutes ago, so I balked as I realised how much there was to do for the next. The reading […]
Tiago Villanueva: Are vegetarian diets better for health?
One might think that vegetarian diets are better for one’s health, but that is not necessarily the case, as it is possible to be vegetarian and consume predominantly “empty calories” […]
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran: The doctor-patient relationship—from blind faith to strategic trust
The relationship between a physician and their patient is a sacred covenant which is fundamental to successful clinical outcomes. From Hippocratic times when there was a strong tinge of altruism associated […]
Desmond O’Neill: Transport and health
The Goldfinch, the eagerly awaited third novel of Donna Tartt, featured on many of our Christmas reading lists. As I devoured this wonderful repositioning of the Dickensian novel into the […]
David Lock: Should accident victims who get a payout be entitled to free NHS care?
At a time when NHS bodies are under more financial pressure than ever before there is one anomaly which is worth highlighting. Personal injury victims can be paid damages on […]