We mustn’t forget the power of empathy and kindness in our interactions with colleagues […]
Guest writers
A welcome shift towards an NHS that delivers prevention as well as cure
We were very pleased to hear the prime minister recently announce that the prevention of ill health will be one of five priorities for the NHS’s new 10-year plan. A […]
Putting students at the centre of medical education
Resident physicians are chimeric creatures—part physician delivering healthcare; and part student, attending lectures, completing assignments, and writing tests. Residents endure a constant tug-of-war between these roles. Medical training has classically […]
Kailash Chand: We need bold action on childhood obesity
The UK government’s new childhood obesity strategy, which aims to halve childhood obesity by 2030, does not go far enough and lacks any firm commitment. The strategy proposes banning the […]
Sally Davies: Tackling childhood obesity—evidence, persistence, and political will
Childhood obesity is one of the greatest challenges facing our society as well as our NHS. Approximately one in three children leaving primary school in England are overweight or obese, […]
Sean Love: Access to medical care, a human right, must also be guaranteed to Julian Assange
Sean Love, a physician who has met with Julian Assange several times, calls for him to be given access to healthcare […]
Luke Harper: Pre-referral imaging for an undescended testis can be a hindrance
Paediatric urologists see many boys with cryptorchidism–approximately 2-5% of boys have cryptorchidism at birth and 1-1.5% of three month olds present with it.[1] In my own practice I estimate that […]
Whither the WHO Code in the Scrap the Cap campaign?
In 2010 the UK adopted the World Health Organization’s Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, an important international agreement on which the recently successful Scrap […]
David Shewring: End compliance mindset to assist recovery
The British Society for Surgery of the Hand was founded by specialists from multiple disciplines collaborating to help people with injured and hands visibly affected by the condition receive the […]
Peter von Wichert: COPD—the right terminology in the fight against lung disease?
In medicine, the importance of terminology is not sufficiently discussed, despite the fact that diagnoses and the terms used to name them have such an important role. [1] Scientific medicine […]