The journey My work in international relief as a psychologist and cognitive rehabilitative consultant did not prepare me to be a trauma patient with brain damage. The injuries showed me […]
Patient and public perspectives
Dan Smyth: Patient involvement in the European Respiratory Society Congress 2015-16
The European Lung Foundation (ELF) brings together patients and the public with respiratory professionals to positively influence lung health. ELF works with a network of patient organisations and individuals (via […]
Amy Price: A patient’s perspective on statins
What I wish my doctor could know is what he has no access to. That is all the data for medicines he prescribes. My GP is an incredible doctor but […]
Patients need to have a say on the junior doctor’s contract dispute
An open letter to Jeremy Hunt and The BMA We are patients who have had life-changing illnesses, injuries, or disabilities. We have worked for years to get patients and carers […]
Lisa Steen: The wilderness of the medically unexplained
This patient perspective essay was written by Lisa Steen. She has since died. We have permission to publish the piece from her husband, Raymond Brown. I am a GP, formerly […]
Rachel Thomas: The final frontier
Six weeks without gravity. Cushioned in a single white space for the duration. Air tanks, tubes, and pressure gauges surrounding me, the calendar days marking off a gentle, indistinct blur. And […]
Rosamund Snow: What to call junior doctors—a patient’s perspective
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh have recently called for a change in the way we refer to junior doctors–“junior” and “trainee” sounds too pejorative and affects the morale […]
Matthias Wienold: Innovations that work—new tools for patients’ participation in research
Recently I was asked to identify a patient driven innovation for a workshop at the 7th Global Patients Congress. The title was “Patient organisation led innovation—what works?”. The innovation I chose […]
Tessa Richards: “Therapeutic relationships”—prized but hard to deliver
I hate to think of what I’ve cost the NHS since I was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. This year alone I’d need to factor in 12 outpatient appointments, seven […]
Suzanne Gordon: Encouraging all members of a medical team to speak up
The oval, mahogany table dominates the center of the large conference room. A number of chairs circle the table and dot the perimeter of the room. Every week, a group […]