Back in the 1990s politicians dreamt up a way of funding new hospitals, prisons, and schools and keeping the borrowing away from national debt. It was John Major’s government that began […]
NHS
Carl Heneghan: The irrational rationing of healthcare
“The rationing process in the NHS is messy,” said the King’s Fund. On this I think we can agree. Just look at what is happening with IVF services to understand […]
Matt Morgan: The (free) elephant in the burnout room
As an intensive care consultant, the risk of “burnout” is ever present. Everyday, I will deliver devastating news to families when they least expect it. I will often make life […]
People, paint, and power: Enhancing working environments and staff wellbeing
“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~ Pablo Picasso Working within the NHS it is easy to find oneself questioning whether our clinical work spaces reflect […]
Working under pressure in an increasingly under-resourced NHS
Last week we heard the devastating news that another junior doctor has taken their own life. Another remains missing. Cases like this are not new in medicine and are reported […]
Sunil Bhandari: Have we lost sight of clinical training and the patient?
Medicine used to be fun. I could spend time chatting to patients and listening to their ideas, concerns, and expectations. Hopefully, despite their predicament I could bring them hope that we, […]
Nick Hopkinson: What is breathing worth? The economic cost of lung disease
It is no secret that the UK healthcare system is under strain. The percentage of GDP spent on healthcare is projected to fall to 6.6% by 2020/21, back to the same […]
Jennifer Dixon: The NHS Five Year Forward View—the task now is delivery
As the good book notes “Without a vision the people perish.” While not on a biblical scale, the Five Year Forward View published in 2014 set out what was a broad […]
Chris Moulton: The answer to the NHS’s never ending A+E problem is actually fairly simple
Everybody wants world peace; everybody wants an end to poverty. And we all want the NHS to have a safe, efficient and cost-effective emergency service. The trouble is that nobody […]
Amber Davenport: The future of STPs
This week we expect NHS England to publish a “delivery plan” setting out priorities for the sector over the next two years. No one is quite clear on the detail […]