“What we are doing, through amendments to the legislation, is to make it absolutely clear that integration around the needs of the patient trumps other issues, including the application of […]
Guest writers
Bob Roehr on Mila Means – a physician at the centre of the US abortion wars
Demonstrations for and against the question of abortion are going on all this week outside a clinic in Germantown, Maryland, in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Opponents of abortion have also broadened […]
Philip Wilson: The dangers of science by press release
Imagine you’ve just completed a groundbreaking piece of research. Do you: a) go and tell your mates down the pub; b) publish in a peer reviewed journal; or c) rush […]
Gary Collins: Opening up multivariable prediction models
Consensus-based guidelines for transparent reporting Prediction models can provide reliable estimates of a patient’s risk (or probability) of having a specific underlying condition or of developing some condition in the […]
The COMET Initiative’s second meeting – a truly international affair
The second meeting of the COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials) Initiative (COMET-2) was held on 11-12 July 2011 in Bristol and was attended by more than 150 researchers […]
Martin McShane: One small step
Back in May 2010 the professional executive committee and NHS Lincolnshire board agreed to delegate the management of the minor surgery local enhanced service to the practice based commissioning (PBC) […]
Domhnall MacAuley: My big fat gypsy wedding
The TV programme My big fat gypsy wedding made me cringe. We cared for a large community of travelling people for many years and I felt embarrassed on their behalf. […]
Polly Stoker on Threads and Yarns – personal accounts of health and wellbeing
Senior citizens and first year textile undergraduates getting together to make material flowers is not something that you would associate with the BMJ. Much more Craft magazine, surely? This was […]
Desmond O’Neill: First night of the Proms
It is a sure sign of the ever diminishing pool of memorable acronyms that even the most treasured of ceremonial events can be hijacked for the basest of clinical motives. […]
Jacqui Young: NHS celebrates progress in heart and stroke services in England
A conference held in London this week, titled “Celebrating clinical leadership in heart and stroke care,” looked at what has been achieved over the past decade in heart and stroke […]