“Bring sac close to peritoneum, drain its purulent liquid content, and have the shrunken pouch squeezed through this tiny hole.” Such was the senior surgeon’s instruction at the conclusion of […]
Guest writers
Peter Lapsley: Please tick the box!
Some things never seem to change. I spent much of the ten years during which I ran the Skin Care Campaign (SCC) explaining patiently to the government and to pharmacists […]
Richard Smith on assessing health technology assessment
The budget of Britain’s Health Technology Assessment programme has grown from £13m in 2006 to £88m in 2010, and it has conducted a swathe of trials on new technologies, published dozens […]
Carmi Z Margolis on global health education
When he first entered the spacious great room, a colleague exclaimed: “What an amazing place! I’ve always wanted to come to Bellagio! How did you do it?” I imagine most […]
Emily Spry on nursing in Sierra Leone
The nurse steps forward into the circle, putting her hands together. She prays aloud, “in Jesus’ name,” asking that our four day workshop at the Children’s Hospital be blessed, “so […]
Emily Spry’s first impressions of working in Sierra Leone
I’m excited to have started at the Ola During Children’s Hospital in Freetown, after hearing so much about it from the Welbodi Partnership, the charity I’ll be working for over […]
Stephen Ginn on David Nutt being sacked
Having been sacked from his position as the chief UK government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt may today be reflecting on the precarious position of anyone who seeks to advise […]
John Coggon: Can a conscience dictate?
If I asked a physiologist to show me where her conscience is, I’m fairly sure she’d not be able to. Yet, it seems, a great many doctors appeal directly to […]
Douglas Noble: Patient safety – diagnostic errors
Last week I fell onto an outstretched hand and clinically had an obvious fracture on the ulnar side of my left wrist. Interestingly, the very diligent nurse practitioner who examined […]
Paul Hodgkin: It’s a two way street now
Medicine has always been a pretty one-way business. We know, they don’t. It is us that ask the questions, their bodies that slip under our knives. Patients of course have […]