There were no dissenters from the view at last week’s Cambridge Health Network meeting that London has chronic overcapacity in its acute hospitals. It’s been the case for decades. One […]
Guest writers
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 14 May 2012
JAMA 9 May 2012 Vol 307 1925 In a wonderful letter to Humphry Davy in 1800, Coleridge declared that science, as a human activity, “being necessarily performed with the Passion […]
Jeremy Sare: Drug driving in the Queen’s Speech
Enforcing the law on drug driving has not been a problem historically of either political will, or policing priorities. The main issue has always been applying the science and technology […]
Kelley Swain reviews Leonardo da Vinci: anatomist
In 1512, Leonardo da Vinci set out to clarify the function of a specific, bulbous part of the heart. He injected molten wax into an ox heart to make a […]
Andrew Moscrop: Nutrition and gender in Pakistan
Into the Kuchlak nutrition clinic shuffles a pale blue burqa. From within the sky-coloured folds of fabric, the Pashtu woman pulls a tightly swaddled infant. Her son is eleven months […]
Richard Smith: Teaching is stand-up comedy
Teaching, it seems to me, is much the same as stand-up comedy. One is much scarier than the other, but which is the scariest depends on who you are. I […]
Tracey Brown: A defamation bill in the Queen’s speech
If we were asked to design a defamation law that would silence awkward criticism in science and medicine, and protect powerful interests, how would that look? Let’s say we’ve got […]
Richard Smith: Can Devi Shetty make healthcare affordable across the globe?
It’s impossible not to be impressed by Devi Shetty, heart surgeon and the “the Henry Ford of healthcare.” We can be impressed by his surgical skill and his refusal to […]
Devi Shetty: India will become the first country in the world to dissociate health care from affluence
I believe the economy of the 21st century will be driven by the health sector. The economy of the 20th century was driven by machines which addressed human toil. The health […]
Martin McShane: Ch-Ch-Changes
Ch,ch,changes. The next couple of months are going to see a sea change in the management of commissioning across England. The appointments to the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) sectors are being […]