Sunday: As soon as you touch down in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Ebola hits you—or the awareness of it. Health forms to fill in, chlorine handwashes before you even enter the terminal […]
Month: January 2015
Richard Lehman’s journal review—12 January 2015
NEJM 8 Jan 2015 Vol 372 113 A vaccine that works really well is the best kind of medical intervention. But a vaccine that gives partial protection is a headache. […]
The BMJ Today: My mum and Richard Smith
Yesterday my mum, who died of cancer in February 2007, would have been 91. I’m not an expert on death and so do not know whether hers was “good” or […]
Mike Smeeton: How to achieve a good death
Two nurses from our Sue Ryder Nettlebed Hospice were interviewed recently by Paddy O’Connell for his Broadcasting House programme that airs on BBC Radio 4 every Sunday. The reason for […]
Ted Willis: Consequences of the “John Wayne” contract (“A GP has to do what a GP has to do”)
Why is general practice unpopular, with low morale, falling applications for training, and—according to some experts—poor overall performance? I have worked as a GP for over 25 years and it […]
Shinjini Mondal: Reframing the challenge of urban slums from Cape Town to Mumbai and beyond
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit South Africa and learn about the health system in Cape Town and the health issues of Khayelitsha, an informal (and notorious) township in […]
The BMJ Today: From patients to politicians—something for everyone
Surely most patients see doctors for the sole reason of getting healthier. Can recording a consultation help? Does it harm? Even if the law permits patients to record their medical […]
Ahmed Rashid: Leadership in primary care—the “odd one out”
Picture the scene. It was the first day of the NHS national medical director’s clinical fellow scheme induction. A group of junior doctors, who had successfully applied to take a […]
The BMJ Today: Getting to grips with research and research papers
The BMJ Today blogs this week are all written by research editors, who handle original research manuscripts from submission up to eventual acceptance (even though that only applies to a […]
David Oliver: Discharging patients from overcrowded hospitals—fewer “progress chasers” and more “doers” please
This year, urgent activity in English NHS hospitals has reportedly hit a record high. Officially reported “delayed transfers of care” (inpatients medically fit to leave, but awaiting community health and […]