I squirm every time I hear that “increasing patient demand” is driving up costs in the NHS. I squirm because demand, although a standard technical word of economists, sounds so […]
Columnists
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Apoptosis
In their landmark paper in the British Journal of Cancer 45 years ago, Kerr, Wyllie, and Currie reported a phenomenon that they described as “controlled cell deletion”. They proposed calling […]
Martin McKee: A Shared Society? Interpreting Theresa May’s revolutionary vision
Theresa May is an unlikely revolutionary. Yet, on the day she entered 10 Downing Street, this was how she defined herself. She spoke of the need to tackle shorter life […]
David Lock: Have NHS leaders failed to “speak truth unto power”?
This is blog is not a rant—well not too much of a rant. It is an expression of serious frustration about the way the NHS is run and about the […]
Nick Hopkinson: NHS humanitarian crisis denial
When I qualified as a doctor in 1993, trolley medicine was completely routine. Post take ward rounds would typically visit people who had been waiting patiently in corridors overnight or […]
Richard Smith: The brutality of demography
Many of us elite liberals like to think of ourselves as rational creatures trying to get by in a crazy world, but we know that we are prey to all […]
David Oliver: Closing more hospital beds—the policy zombie they couldn’t kill
During the silly season over Christmas and New Year, NHS England Chief Nursing Officer Jane Cummings gave an interview to the Daily Telegraph. She advocated better investment in community and […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Medical anniversaries in 2017
Here are the topics covered by my selection of this year’s anniversaries, illustrated below: • chemistry (discovery of cadmium, lithium, and selenium; the Law of Mass Action); • infectious diseases […]
Richard Smith: Tales of sustainability I—transforming mental health services in Lambeth
In 2010 adult mental health services in Lambeth in South London were at breaking point, with most acute wards running at over 100% capacity (possible because of overspill into the […]
Desmond O’Neill: Singing in the New Year
Little in human nature escapes the scrutiny of scholarship, and New Year resolutions are no exception. We tap into a tradition that dates back to Babylonian times. Their new year […]