Schwartz rounds have been shown to improve staff wellbeing and patient care; it’s time for them to be rolled out, says Richard Smith […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith: Does antimicrobial resistance pose “as great a threat to humanity’s future” as climate change?
Both antimicrobial resistance and climate change are manmade disasters that we have failed to confront, says Richard Smith […]
Richard Smith: A novel that tells brutal truths about doctors, hospitals, and the treatment of dying patients
The truth is in the fiction, says Martin Amis, novelist and essayist. Somethings are just too painful, too awful, or too revealing to write about yourself or your colleagues, but […]
Richard Smith: Populism and the NHS
Britain’s much loved NHS is a prime target for populist politicians, says Richard Smith […]
Richard Smith: Must the seriously ill and the bereaved be exempt from criticism?
Free and open public debate becomes impossible if all those who are seriously ill or bereaved must be beyond criticism, says Richard Smith […]
Richard Smith: An example of low value health care—time to talk about money and opportunity cost
I’m sitting in the eye clinic for perhaps the tenth time and concluding that the whole programme that I have been through has been a waste of time, resources, clinical […]
Richard Smith: An example of why patients need to control all their health and social care records
This blog is suffused with conflict of interest, but I hope that you’ll agree that it’s about improving the NHS rather than making money for me. Without being paid I […]
Richard Smith: Flying a Jumbo jet and doing a kidney transplant for the first time: a parable
Recently a young friend flew a Jumbo jet across the Atlantic for the first time, reminding me of a contrasting story of another friend doing his first kidney transplant. The […]
Richard Smith: Chair of NHS England wants a £50 billion NHS bond, culture change, a good relationship with the private sector, and innovation
Lord Prior, the chair of NHS England, is tall and thin, has a playful smile most of the time, and answers questions with a directness unusual in the higher echelons […]
Richard Smith: A visit to North Halifax shows the importance and the difficulty of community development
“North Halifax is notorious,” Lisa Okonkwo, leader of St George’s Community Trust, tells me as we sit in the old vicarage of the church that is now the home of […]