Over the past few months there has been considerable debate and argument about plans by the NHS to collect and centrally collate details of individual patient records from general practice […]
Month: February 2014
Clare Gerada: Why care.data will be transformational to the NHS
If I learnt anything about myself while being chair of Royal College of General Practitioners, it’s that I am not one to shy away from giving opinions that are out […]
Anita Jain: Training science communicators in India
“Acupuncture boosts libido,” blared the headline of a leading Indian daily. “Acupuncture effective treatment for breast cancer,” proclaimed another. These are in effect reporting a study which examined if acupuncture […]
David Lock: Do CCGs have the power to pay out for past PCT NHS continuing care errors?
The NHS has paid out vast amounts—probably hundreds of millions of pounds—in recent years as a result of decisions that patients were not entitled to NHS Continuing Care (where the […]
Richard Smith: Will digitisation transform the NHS as it has much else?
Digitisation of the NHS will both save and improve it believe Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for health, and Tim Kelsey, national director for patients and information at NHS England. […]
Elin Jones: Recruiting an additional 1000 doctors for Wales
In recent years the problems of appropriately staffing the NHS throughout all four nations have become more widely known, whether it is the impending timebomb of GP retirement, the problems […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—10 February 2014
NEJM 6 Feb 2014 Vol 370 513 Now that I’ve moved to a policy of including online first articles in these reviews, I’m immediately confronted with a problem: I’ve already […]
Joanne Csete: Why the US needs to change its drug policy
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 […]
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 […]