Peter Wilmshurst is that rare thing—a successful whistleblower. What’s more, he’s a cheerful one, despite having lost £25 000, faced bankruptcy and the loss of his house, and spent every […]
Columnists
Kieran Walsh: Can we make savings in medical education?
The age of austerity in the NHS has only just begun. The next few years will likely bring closed Casualty departments, downgraded district hospitals, longer waiting times, and rationed treatments. […]
Muir Gray: How to design and plan population based systems
I will present the approach we use in designing and planning population based systems of care in ten short blogs. Here are the ten steps: Define the scope […]
Marge Berer: Jeremy Hunt supports 12 week limit for abortion
At the Labour conference last week, Andy Burnham accused Jeremy Hunt of failing to make any statements about important current health service issues in parliament since he became health secretary. […]
Tiago Villanueva: Can doctors become “transnational” professionals?
A recent BBC article about the globalisation of work and people, written by Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice, argues that there will be more professionals called “transnationals,” as the […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Transforming communities to be healthy and active
Audacious actions are being taken in Aruba, an island paradise in the Caribbean, to improve the health of its residents, said Richard Visser, the Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport […]
Pritpal S Tamber: How my local CCG disrespects its patients
I went to my local “patient participation” group meeting last week. My local practice said they were seeking feedback on their commissioning plans and suggested I attend. This was quite […]
Desmond O’Neill: René Magritte and the art of geriatric medicine
The addition of a cultural focus to scientific congresses is increasingly common. More often than not the event relates more to the city chosen rather than the subject matter of […]
Richard Smith: Trying to impact the real world
Cochrane systematic reviews provide perhaps the best evidence available on health, but do they improve the care of patients and shape health policy? This was the question addressed at one […]
Martin McShane: Champions for change
Let me tell you a story. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a woman whose mother developed vascular dementia. This is what I heard. A stroke caused expressive […]