Statistics from the OECD show that the per person use of statins in the UK is the highest in Europe and the second highest among all OECD countries. There are a […]
Guest writers
Judith Hibbard: How do people become good managers of their own health?
Within the general population some people actively focus on reaching and maintaining good health, while others are more passive about the whole thing. So what makes the difference? Is learning […]
Steve Isaacs: Do adolescents take more risks than other age groups?
Aidan McFarlane recently gave the third Ann McPherson Lecture at Green Templeton College, Oxford. It was entitled: “Adolescent behaviours: learning from experimentation, a risky business.” McPherson and McFarlane had formerly […]
Sabine Best: Clinicians, patients, and carers—having your say in palliative and end of life care research
Palliative and end of life care is under researched; there are many unanswered questions to be addressed, and yet resources for research are limited. For research to have a lasting […]
David Maher and David Pencheon: Adding wider social value when commissioning
Increasingly, we are being asked to do more with less. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, a private member’s bill, became law in January 2012. It requires all commissioners of […]
Tim Rudin: Ethical Sourcing—how organisations can learn from other public sector bodies
Transport for London (TfL) has been implementing ethical sourcing into our procurement practices since the launch of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Responsible Procurement Policy in 2006. When we first […]
Tara Lamont: On failing well—Archie Cochrane’s legacy
I have been reading Archie Cochrane’s account of his life and work (not in general print, but I got it from the Cardiff University archives for £14.99). It is not […]
Tim Ballard: The wider consequences of healthcare delivery
In January we saw the launch of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit’s (SDU) strategy for the NHS. Since its inception, the SDU has tirelessly promoted the wider responsibilities that we […]
Chris Ham: Wanted—an even Better Care Fund
The King’s Fund’s new analysis of serious and growing financial pressures in the NHS should serve as a wake up call to politicians of all parties. As the analysis shows, with […]
David Colquhoun and Andrew Plested: Why Altmetrics is bad for science—and healthcare
Altmetrics is the latest buzzword in the vocabulary of bibliometricians. It attempts to measure the “impact” of a piece of research by counting the number of […]