Last week I gave a talk to the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals entitled “Medical journals: time for something different.” My core argument was that “Medical journals have played […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith: Medicine’s need for philosophy
The commonest undergraduate degree of students entering the medical school at University of California Irvine is philosophy. The medical school, traditionally the richest and most arrogant of university departments, has […]
Richard Smith: Coaching—an essential skill in modern health practice
If you have meningitis how well you do depends on the medical team, whereas if you have diabetes it depends mainly on you, the patient. These days most of healthcare […]
Richard Smith: Is the NHS finally going to start taking patient safety seriously?
Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for health, is embroiled in battles with junior doctors, GPs, and consultants over contracts and patient safety. He thinks that he will improve safety by […]
Richard Smith: Turning round failing hospitals
The Care Quality Commission has placed 27 health institutions, most of them hospitals, into “special measures,” and so far 11 have emerged. Few jobs can be tougher or lonelier than […]
Richard Smith: The death throes of national medical journals
Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association fired the editor of the CMAJ and dissolved the journal’s oversight committee, which was supposed to protect editorial independence. While doing so, the board of […]
Richard Smith: Is prison health better now it’s an NHS responsibility?
In the 1980s people in prison received a second class health service despite having a high prevalence of health problems. I visited many prisons at that time and wrote a […]
Richard Smith: Clinical leaders badly needed but not appreciated
All health systems need clinical leaders to flourish, but being a clinical leader is hard, particularly in the NHS. Those were the main messages from a recent meeting of the Cambridge […]
Richard Smith: Qualitative research and The BMJ—hidden motives
I’m much amused by the pious positions taken by researchers and BMJ editors in the spirited dispute over qualitative research. The researchers are upset that The BMJ largely excludes qualitative […]
Richard Smith: Systems thinking is essential for responding to obesity (and much else)
The recent discovery of gravitational waves allows a whole new way of seeing the Universe. With some similarities the recognition that the world is much more complicated and unpredictable than […]