Change, challenges, setbacks, and advances are the hallmarks of modern medical careers. We can either let “Brexit” type moments consume us, whispering from the sidelines, or show the leadership necessary […]
NHS
Alice Gerth: What to do about junior doctor morale?
Negotiations, four emergency care only strikes, a threatened imposition, one full strike, a referendum rejecting the contract and an imposition. It’s been an interesting few months. Many junior doctors are […]
Ruth Bonnington: Thoughts on the NHS from a GP
As I sit at the bedside of my dying father at 04h30 in a small palliative care unit in the Scottish Borders I wonder about lots of things and about […]
Reena Aggarwal: Are junior doctors going to vote for the new contract proposal?
Junior doctors are caught in a maelstrom; voting for or against a contract that is the best offer yet proposed, but with questions about its fairness, safety, and practical application […]
Gemma Wright: Supporting military reserves in the NHS
As we approach Armed Forces Day tomorrow, this is the time to consider the 4000 healthcare staff who, as reservists, give up their spare time to train and serve in […]
Nigel Edwards: The NHS workforce crisis may be irreversible
A great deal of the current focus in the NHS is on the financial challenges it faces. These are undoubtedly severe, but I think they may be obscuring a problem […]
How does Salford Royal Hospital’s decision to close its kitchen fit with the aims of new Devo Manc?
Good health is not equally distributed throughout society, a fact that has been well established since the publication of the controversial “Black Report” in the 1980s. There are a number of […]
Céline Miani and Eleanor Winpenny: Can hospital services work in primary care settings?
As Martin Roland explained in an editorial in The BMJ a few months ago, general practice is facing substantial challenges. Contributing factors include problems recruiting, rising workload, increasing stress, and doctors retiring early. […]
Edward Wernick and Steve Manley: Meaningful patient collaboration—the end of the beginning . . .
The delay between this blog and the last one in November on the new King’s Fund Collaborative Pairs Programme reflects the level of work that we have been dealing with over the […]
Anne Marie Rafferty: Whose responsibility is the workforce anyway?
It’s the workforce stupid! That is the key message of the Nuffield Report, “Reshaping the workforce to deliver the care patients need.” Workforce solutions are rarely quick fixes so policy […]