Trying to define a good doctor is as elusive a task as trying to define a good life or a good death. Like good lives and deaths, good doctors will […]
Latest articles
Jonathan Glass: If surgeons lived Lewis Hamilton’s life
Many of the medical conferences I have attended recently have included sessions suggesting that the NHS is failing in its processes and that there is lots we can learn from […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Fabian tactics
My pursuit of words that twist are repeatedly balked by a desire to comment on the way in which Jeremy Hunt continues to twist and turn over the junior hospital […]
Chapal Mehra: Is the world prepared to defeat tuberculosis?
On the eve of the World Lung Conference in Cape Town, many of us crowded into the auditorium at the convention centre to listen to Grania Brigden, MSF Access Campaign […]
Clifford Mann: The co-location of GPs in A&E
As the year draws to a close, scrutiny of A&E performance will once again become a regular topic of media interest. This attention is as dichotomous as the four hour […]
Will Stahl-Timmins: Almost impossible cancer spaghetti
NICE guidelines, produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, are detailed, and sometimes lengthy documents. They are an attempt to summarise all available evidence on a health […]
William Cayley: Is the Good Samaritan the wrong metaphor to use for doctors?
A story from the Christian New Testament has provided the literary namesake for countless medical facilities, as well as legal and ethical principles guiding care for those in need, but […]
Vithika Pande: Lessons from dais—can we learn from traditional systems?
Many attempts have been made recently to better understand the social determinants of health (World Health Organization report “Commission on Social Determinants of Health). However, understanding health from a cultural lens […]
Jane Feinmann: Joshua’s story and its impact on patient safety
Like most people who complain about unsafe healthcare, James Titcombe’s six year battle to hold Morecambe Bay Trust to account for the death of his nine day old son in […]
Will Marsh: Compassion and contracts—a leadership critique
At this year’s London Psychiatric Trainee conference, I listened to Penelope Campling speak eloquently about the importance of compassion in the delivery of healthcare. In her book Intelligent Kindness, she […]