How do doctors manage conversations with patients about the availability (or often non-availability) of certain drugs or treatments within the NHS? In most consultations, the patient’s questions around their illness […]
Month: February 2016
Richard Lehman’s journal review—29 February 2016
NEJM 25 Feb 2016 Vol 374 Aspirin with your cabbage? 728 Most people who undergo coronary artery surgery take aspirin. Nobody knew whether they should carry on or stop when […]
Tony Delamothe: In search of joinedupedness
The stated aim of the recent King’s Fund conference, “Integrating care throughout the patient’s surgical journey” was to align the objectives of the NHS five year forward view and the […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Imposition
As I foretold three weeks ago, the UK government’s health secretary Jeremy Hunt recently announced his intention to impose his contract on the junior hospital doctors. His cunctatorial Fabian tactics […]
Richard Smith: Clinical leaders badly needed but not appreciated
All health systems need clinical leaders to flourish, but being a clinical leader is hard, particularly in the NHS. Those were the main messages from a recent meeting of the Cambridge […]
Aser García Rada: Time to move forward after five years of the current anti-tobacco law in Spain
Spain has been at the forefront of the fight against smoking for many years. Today (25 February) the National Committee to Prevent Smoking (CNPT), the Spanish Medical Colleges Organization (Organización […]
Liz Allen: How Ebola and Zika might help to open up science
The Ebola and Zika epidemics could be the catalyst to open up and speed up the publishing of science. During the Ebola outbreak, there were examples of researchers being unwilling […]
David Zigmond: Can we reduce childhood sepsis by more vigilant management? I doubt it
Recently the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said “I am determined we blaze a trail across the world in developing a truly safe healthcare system with airline levels of safety.” (Economist […]
David Oliver: If you want to explain what’s happening in the NHS, just look at schools and teachers
Imagine you are a teacher or headteacher in a good enough local authority school in an area with its fair share of deprivation and a shrinking funding envelope. The school […]
Neville Goodman’s Metaphor Watch: leave business metaphors to business
Some metaphors have gone beyond cliché to parody, and should never be written in a medical article. They include at the end of the day, level playing field, and moving […]