Whatever the rights and wrongs of the standoff between the government and junior doctors, failure to reach agreement on a new contract is bad for patients and for staff. The […]
Guest writers
Paul Hodgkin: The dogs that don’t bark are the most difficult to hear
For at least the last 70 years patients have been regularly gathered in crowded outpatient clinics and left to sit in silence. Decade after decade, country after country, health systems […]
Tara Lamont: How was it for you? Reflections on patient experience research
“Expect to see blood in your semen.” This was the shouted afterthought from the clinician to a middle aged patient with prostate cancer across a crowded waiting room as he […]
Kamal R Mahtani: Evidence based mentoring for “aspiring academics”
There are times in our careers when we are not sure what to do next, whoever we are. We may lack experience or the confidence to decide what to do; […]
Martin Roland: Who should have PSA testing for prostate cancer?
Doctors and patients are confused by PSA testing. In January 2016, the UK National Screening Committee recommendation concluded that “Evidence shows a benefit of prostate screening to reduce prostate cancer […]
Stuart Parris and Sonja Marjanovic: How to galvanise the NHS to adopt innovation
The NHS has a strong history of pioneering health innovations, but has traditionally been better at developing them than adopting them. To address these challenges, Sir Hugh Taylor, former permanent secretary at […]
Robert A Watson: Challenges and opportunities for emergency general surgery
Emergency general surgery (EGS) in England is facing a number of challenges, including workforce, training, and operational issues. Together these have led to wide national variation in outcomes. For example, […]
Claudia Pagliari et al: Smartening-up NHS workforce management with IT
Media revelations of dramatic unexpected shortages in NHS nursing capacity, excessive dependence on overseas recruitment and costly agency staff (often NHS workers doing private shifts) are contributing to the public perception […]
Peter Lees: “The doctors’ mess is dead, long live the doctors’ mess”
I regret not fighting harder for the maintenance of the doctors’ mess. Sure we fought tooth and nail in the late seventies and early eighties when we perceived that the […]
What are the consequences of recent caps on NHS agency staff spending?
Four months since the first caps on agency spending were introduced by NHS Improvement—and after new framework agreements came into force last week—what do we know about the impact of these measures […]