Dave Sackett, the father of evidence based medicine, used to warn people against reading journals. They took up time that could be better spent and gave you fragments of evidence […]
Latest articles
Kate Chapman: Is it time to see sense about C-sections?
The UK’s caesarean section rates have risen massively, almost doubling in the past 20 years, so it was with interest that I heard the news that 4 PCT’s in southern […]
Douglas Noble on reforming the reforms
The pause ended in dramatic fashion last week with the publication of the NHS Future Forum’s recommendations. Most interesting was the orthopaedic surgeon at Guys Hospital who confronted the prime […]
Richard Smith: The NHS debate – missing most of what matters
I’ve stayed out of the NHS debate. These days I spend lots of time in countries like Bangladesh, Kenya, and Guatemala, and viewed from those countries – where health workers and […]
Richard Hurley: The two cultures collide – medicine meets the arts in Dublin
Last week I met artists, musicians, poets, doctors, academics, therapists, nurses, and others with an interest in how the arts can help doctors hone their practice and improve patients’ experiences […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 20 June 2011
JAMA 15 June 2011 Vol 305 2419 Here is a study which may have major resource implications for you and your commissioning group, because it seems to show that there […]
David Payne: Nostalgia for closed hospitals
We have too many metropolitan acute hospitals and failing ones should be closed, said UK nursing leader Peter Carter in a front page story in Friday’s Times newspaper. He is […]
Aser García Rada: Spain’s healthcare revolution
Spain’s state run healthcare system, one of the best in the world according to the World Health Organization, is facing a serious threat. In the face of growing privatisation, cuts […]
Tiago Villanueva: The dawn of open access books
It is well known that doctors’ professional roles change throughout their career. A junior doctor is expected to be mainly committed to clinical duties, while the head of department may be mainly dedicated […]
Research highlights – 17 June 2011
“Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research […]