“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” Amongst the many misleading arguments, which are frequently used to promote useless treatments, this one occupies a prominent place. When I first […]
Columnists
Tracey Koehlmoos: The view from Bangladesh on global poverty reduction
A report released by the World Bank on 29 February highlighted that, despite the global recession, the number of people living on $1.25 per day has reduced across all regions […]
Martin McShane: A nation or the profession?
I sat down with a manager who has an in depth knowledge and experience of commissioning services for people with learning disabilities, as I wanted to understand why we seemed […]
Richard Smith: Records in the NHS: an Achilles heel
I always rather enjoy being processed by the NHS. Instead of my usual panoramic (and perhaps highly misleading) view I’m down in the scrub. What struck me in my latest […]
Martin McShane: Little things
The reforms grind on. In the stratosphere there is a lot of noise and turbulence—people arguing passionately and polemically. Meanwhile the architecture of a new system is being constructed around […]
Sandra Lako: Sierra Leone seven years on
Seven years ago today I flew into Lungi airport on an SN Brussels flight together with a few other people who were soon to be my colleagues and housemates. I […]
Richard Smith: Blog or book?
< Is it better to write blogs or a book? I wondered this the other night as I attended the party to celebrate the launch of a friend's book. […]
Muir Gray: Ten essential questions that only systems can answer
I have met clinicians and patients in many parts of England in the last five years and here is a list of the type of questions that cannot be answered. […]
Richard Smith and Melanie Lovell: Should doctors respect patients’ requests not to know?
What follows is an email debate between Melanie Lovell, a palliative care physician in Sydney, and Richard Smith, former editor of the BMJ and chair of Patients Know Best. The […]
Martin McShane: Doing the maths
We are now constantly discussing the transition process and the programme of work we have mapped, which we need to follow to deliver the structural changes demanded by the reforms. […]