Andrew Lansley had his calamitous Health and Social Care Act 2012; Kenneth Clarke introduced the wasteful and destructive NHS internal market before going off to work for British American Tobacco; […]
Month: January 2018
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Being one, two, or many
As I noted last week, animals are monophyodonts, diphyodonts, or polyphyodonts. Rodents and some cetaceans, for example, are monophyodonts—their teeth grow continuously and are never replaced. Humans, and most other […]
Writing letters directly to patients puts them at the centre of their care
A clinic letter from a paediatric surgeon hit the headlines recently. Written to the child’s GP and copied to her parents, it began “Thank you for referring this lovely young […]
Jeremy Taylor: There are reasons for patients to welcome Hunt’s return to the Department of Health and Social Care
What, as patients, are we to make of the re-appointment of Jeremy Hunt, yet again, to the government’s health brief? […]
Ian Hamilton: Language alone cannot reduce the stigma that people who use drugs experience
The derogatory language we use to describe people who use drugs is merely a symptom of a deeper problem, says Ian Hamilton […]
Paul Burstow: Social care is more than just speeding up hospital discharge
Jeremy Hunt remains at the helm of the Department of Health—an announcement that last week generated a largely predictable and mostly tribal response. By making Hunt the secretary of state […]
Martin McKee: Too big to fail? The Carillion affair exposes wider failings of governance
Carillion, an outsourcing company that had become a major provider of support services in the NHS and other sectors of the economy has joined a select group of once great […]
Richard Smith: The corruption of medical language
A young doctor friend sends me a link to a piece he has written in the Guardian newspaper. I praise the simplicity and clarity of the language and suggest that […]
Kirsty Gadsby on delayed diagnosis: “I felt validated after years of feeling a fraud”
Listening to patients and thinking outside the box can make the difference between diagnosis and dismissal, says Kirsty Gadsby […]
Charles Clift: Tedros is refreshingly honest about the deficiencies in WHO governance and financing
Will member states respond? The executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO) will meet on 22-29 January. A key agenda item will be the latest draft of WHO’s 13th […]