Corruption is “the abuse of power or position to acquire a personal benefit.” For individual doctors corrupt behaviour would include ordering unnecessary tests, prescribing irrelevant medication, or performing unwarranted operations […]
NHS
Jo Habben: Reducing pressure damage is everybody’s business
Pressure damage isn’t new, Florence Nightingale herself identified that in some circumstances pressure ulcers could be attributed to deficits in nursing care. We have known about pressure damage for a […]
David Wrigley: A seven day NHS? My seven point plan for Mr Cameron & Mr Hunt
The media have called this the “first major speech” in this brand new Conservative majority government. Prime Minister David Cameron, with five years of power ahead of him, decided to […]
Sue Hogston: “We only have one chance to get it right, so why are some still getting end of life care so wrong?”
Today’s report by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman demonstrates that end of life care could be improved for up to 355 000 people a year; highlighting tragic cases where […]
David Oliver: Do bring me problems
In her book Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World, Barbara Ehrenreich brilliantly deconstructed this cult. Her starting point was her own diagnosis of breast cancer […]
Daniel Barrett: Will a seven day NHS push primary care recruitment from crisis to catastrophe?
I listened with personal interest as the new conservative government re-launched its grand plan to deliver a “seven day health service.” In a little over a year I will be […]
Samir Dawlatly: A sideways look at the seven day working idea for GPs
Letter to the education secretary: Dear Nicky Morgan Congratulations on being appointed education secretary. Following on from your predecessor will either turn out to be really easy, as you can’t […]
David Zigmond: “Curing” dementia—medical possibility or political rhetoric?
Talk of “curing” dementia can seriously distract us from the very difficult—yet humbly rewarding—tasks of pastoral care that are bound to increase. “David Cameron has said he wants dementia cured […]
Sally Carter and Emma Parish review Who Cares?
A whirlwind of real voices from the NHS by Sally Carter, technical editor, The BMJ. “It’s a parade performance,” said the woman at the box office, “but some of it […]
Richard Smith: Keeping the NHS alive
The NHS has to change radically if it is to survive. All those who study the NHS closely know that, but I’m not sure that all those who work in […]