This morning we left the peaceful lutheran guesthouse in the grounds of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) to start set-up for the first day of the basic surgical skills course […]
Guest writers
Stephen Whitehead: Transparency in pharma and healthcare
Recently, at a joint ABPI/BMJ conference, the Ethical Standards in Health and Life Sciences Group (ESHLSG) published the latest in a series of collaborative documents: Clinical Trials Transparency-Principles and Facts. […]
Magdalena Kincaid: surgical teaching on the Mount of Olives – part 1
The car journey from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem lasts about an hour. There is an enveloping warmth in the air even at 2 am and it is eerily quiet. The […]
Angela Coulter: Please stop muddling shared decision-making and provider choice
Government departments are barred from making policy announcements during elections, so there’s always a flurry of them after the purdah period has ended. The aftermath of the recent local government […]
Henry Murphy: Epidemic – a sick musical of immense proportions
Effort ***** Value for money ***** Entertainment **** Public health education ** Price: Free One of the perks of being the Clegg Scholar is that you get forwarded details of […]
Sarah Woolnough: Good news for research in the UK
The regulation and governance of clinical research continues to be a key discussion for the clinical research community. Last year, following increasing pressure the government and regulators began to look […]
David Zigmond: Further NHS reforms – inevitable and unintended consequences
As the debate becomes more fraught, I want to add my voice to the fray. I have been a frontline medical practitioner for more than 40 years, and have seen […]
Grant Hill-Cawthorne: House of Lords to be a mini House of Commons – would the Health and Social Care Bill have passed unamended?
Reform of the the House of Lords has been rumbling along for many years. Started by Tony Blair’s Labour Government, it was in the manifesto of all three main parties […]
Jeremy Sare: Drug consumption offence
The debate between prohibitionists and drug reformers is often one between morality and pragmatism. Comments made last week by Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, about drug testing employees […]
Scarlett McNally on caring for a world population of 7 billion
A new hard-hitting film “Mother: caring for 7 billion” should be required viewing for all doctors, policy-makers, and other people. Its message is that the exponentially increasing world population is […]