“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof, but on the basis of what they find attractive.” Blaise Pascal Can we make evidence based medicine […]
Columnists
Jeffrey Aronson: Mandates and manifestos
I recently heard Jeremy Hunt, UK health secretary, on the Today programme claiming that the Government has a mandate for the controversial contract that it wants junior hospital doctors to sign. […]
Billy Boland: QI forum
It’s been really rewarding discussing quality improvement (QI) with colleagues at my trust. We’ve set up a few different resources for people to make use of. My favourite of these […]
Richard Smith: A foretaste of the end of the NHS
When the NHS began in 1948 dental care was free at the point of delivery, but charges appeared as early as 1951. My current experience with dental services gives me […]
Rachel Clarke: Junior doctors’ dispute—Jeremy Hunt musn’t ignore doctors’ genuine concerns
It’s ironic, isn’t it? Even as last ditch truce talks to settle the junior doctors’ dispute got underway this week, UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt has come under fire yet […]
Neena Modi: How might the junior doctors’ dispute be resolved?
After months of stalemate, a brief pause has been suggested so that both sides in the junior doctors’ dispute can take a deep breath, and get back to talking. How […]
David Oliver: A dispute played out via soundbites and spin cannot end well for services
I write this a few hours after the BMA agreed that it would take up the offer of renewed contract talks with the government, brokered by the Academy of Medical […]
William Cayley: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” One commonly hears the mournful refrain that American healthcare is “broken”—whether demonstrated by reports “hospitals have been gaming the system to make their […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Recognising weasel words
To recap. A weasel word is defined in the OED as “an equivocating or ambiguous word, which takes away the force or meaning of the concept being expressed”. “I can […]
Desmond O’Neill: Peak medical students
Asked to do a column on medical education for an Irish newspaper, I was struck by how little professional debate we have had on the extraordinary increase in student intakes […]