I had 10 minutes to steel myself as I marched down the Embankment in Leeds for the second residential of the Bevan Programme at the NHS Leadership Academy. Preparing to […]
Columnists
William Cayley: Muddling “margin” and “mission.”
“There is mission without margin.” I’ve heard that sentiment time and time again, used to convey the idea that in the healthcare business, while we all agree we want to […]
Tiago Villanueva: Medical education and healthcare in the Philippines
My Filipino roots and family ties usually take me to the Philippines once a year, but this year my trip was unusual as I had the chance to make contact […]
Richard Smith: What will robots do when they take us over?
Lord Rees, the Astronomer Royal and former president of the Royal Society, believes that robots might replace human beings within 50-60 years. Looking at writings from him on the web, […]
Richard Smith: The history of surgery—my contribution
In his book “Adolf Hitler: my part in his downfall,” Spike Milligan modestly suggested that his part had been small. My contribution to the history of surgery is even smaller […]
James Raftery: NICE proposes alternative for value based pricing
Recent headlines have indicated NICE’s displeasure at how it has been asked to implement value based pricing. The stories are based on a paper, “Value based assessment of health technologies,” […]
Julian Sheather: Ugandan anti-homosexuality legislation: bad law, bad science
For all the fanfare that headline science can generate, it is usually quiet science that arouses my sympathies. Carefully uncovered facts can settle like welcome oil, stilling the troubled waters […]
Desmond O’Neill on the power of cinema in discussing medical humanities
One of the pleasures of academic medicine, and a salve for the gentle disorganisation of Irish medical schools, is the initiative, enthusiasm, and broad ranging interests of the medical students […]
Richard Smith: Should all GPs have 3000 patients?
Perhaps 20, possibly 25 or even 30, years ago I had breakfast (or was it lunch?) with Geoffrey Marsh, a GP from Teesside, and he told me that all GPs […]
Richard Smith: Nourishing the world
About a billion people end the day hungry, another billion are obese, and food prices are steadily rising. Clearly something is very wrong with the world’s food system, and the […]