{"id":49623,"date":"2021-02-19T15:48:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T14:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=49623"},"modified":"2021-02-26T12:28:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T11:28:42","slug":"chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the rate of infection begins to slow and the number of vaccines delivered hits another milestone, the political clamour for the government to announce the date on which the current lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted grows louder.<\/p>\n

But in reality, the government\u2019s focus shouldn\u2019t be on dates, but remain steadfastly on saving lives and preventing the NHS from being dangerously overwhelmed. Have we forgotten that just a few weeks ago we passed the dreadful mark of 100,000 deaths, the highest mortality rate in Europe?<\/p>\n

While infections may be falling, they are doing so from dizzying and horrifying heights. And this decline masks the fact that the NHS remains in a precarious situation. Yesterday there were 20,000 patients in hospital with covid-19, and 2,700 fighting for their lives on ventilators\u2014twenty times the level just six months ago.<\/p>\n

The NHS is additionally facing its largest ever backlog of care, with over 200,000 patients waiting over 12 months for operations, millions yet to be seen in clinics, and even delays for life-threatening cancer care. Its workforce has been stretched like never before with staff exhausted and many burnt out. Put simply, our health service is unlikely to cope nor have the resilience to deal with another covid surge.<\/p>\n

Which is why, on Monday when Boris Johnson sets out his roadmap for easing current restrictions in England, it\u2019s vital that he doesn\u2019t simply set an arbitrary date for the end of lockdown. To do so would risk a rebound in infection rates exactly as we saw\u00a0last summer.<\/p>\n

The current restrictions should be eased only when infection rates have been brought down enough to assure us that this really will be our last lockdown, with experts including former Health Secretary and current Health Select Committee chair Jeremy Hunt, NHS Providers chief Chris Hopson, and\u00a0Wellcome\u00a0Trust director Jeremy Farrar\u00a0placing this threshold at roughly 1,000 cases a day.<\/p>\n

A sufficiently low infection rate is crucial to allow the Test, Trace and Isolate system, with the support of public health teams, to effectively identify and contain any further localised outbreaks. Low infection rates will also help to ensure the effectiveness of current vaccines by minimising unnecessary exposure and reducing the risk that more mutant strains will emerge.<\/p>\n

Lower infection rates will not only reduce hospital pressures, but will also mitigate against the longer term consequences of the pandemic on society itself. Long covid and enduring organ damage could mean high levels of long term illness and disability within the younger and working UK population, and it\u2019s clear that the mental health impact will be long lasting with consequences for individual patients, the economy, and the NHS.<\/p>\n

All this amounts to the NHS facing a challenge the scale of which has not been seen in recent memory\u2014perhaps since the service itself was founded. Preventing further waves of infection will also allow for a sustainable economic recovery, without the risk of more disruptive and financially ruinous national or local lockdowns.<\/p>\n

Boris Johnson must be crystal clear that the easing of lockdown won\u2019t represent the end of our national response to the pandemic, even if it will mean that we have turned a crucial corner and are truly on the road back to life as we once knew it.<\/p>\n

The government must learn from past errors of judgement which resulted in a rebound spread of infection\u2014from encouraging people to “eat out to help out” and to go back to work to relaxing the rules over Christmas and its incoherent border quarantine plan\u2014all of which the BMA spoke out against at the time.<\/p>\n

That means ensuring rigorous infection control in public places through continued social distancing and the wearing of facemasks; specifications for covid-secure public settings (including with regard to ventilation); a plan to minimise spread in schools which is acceptable to both teachers and parents; and introducing further financial and practical support to enable self-isolation, particularly for those on low incomes, in insecure employment, or who have been advised to shield.<\/p>\n

Taking steps to ease lockdown must go hand-in-hand with continued progress in vaccinating the nation, but even the speediest possible rollout won\u2019t be enough to prevent further waves of infection if restrictions are removed while incidence remains high. Only once we have data on the vaccination programme\u2019s full impact\u2014including on curbing transmission\u2014will we be able to make informed judgements about the level of risk posed by easing specific restrictions.<\/p>\n

The BMA today publishes a new paper<\/a> setting out the principles and policy ideas which we believe should inform a sensible and safety-first approach to easing the current lockdown.<\/p>\n

It is abundantly clear\u2014scientifically and morally\u2014that taking a cautious approach to easing restrictions will benefit not just our physical and mental health, but also the social and economic life of our country.<\/p>\n

We have all come too far, and all sacrificed too much, to lose our heads and rush into hasty decisions at this pivotal moment. For the sake of our nation\u2019s health and wellbeing, we must proceed from this point with clear sightedness, caution, and resolve.<\/p>\n

Chaand Nagpaul, <\/strong>BMA council chair.<\/em><\/p>\n

Competing interests<\/strong>: none declared.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the rate of infection begins to slow and the number of vaccines delivered hits another milestone, the political clamour for the government to announce the date on which the […]<\/p>\n

More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":49625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-bloggers"],"yoast_head":"\nChaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the rate of infection begins to slow and the number of vaccines delivered hits another milestone, the political clamour for the government to announce the date on which the [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"julietwalker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"julietwalker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"julietwalker\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493\"},\"headline\":\"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":874,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Guest writers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Passengers in protective face masks are seen on St Pancras train station during an ongoing Coronavirus lockdown in London, England on February 15, 2021. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will not ease the lockdown restrictions in the near future. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka\\\/NurPhoto)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/19\\\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493\",\"name\":\"julietwalker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"julietwalker\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/julietwalker\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ","og_description":"As the rate of infection begins to slow and the number of vaccines delivered hits another milestone, the political clamour for the government to announce the date on which the [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"julietwalker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"julietwalker","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/"},"author":{"name":"julietwalker","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493"},"headline":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0","datePublished":"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/"},"wordCount":874,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg","articleSection":["Guest writers"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/","name":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0 - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-19T14:48:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-26T11:28:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/london_covid_lockdown_station_PA-58114224.jpg","width":540,"height":350,"caption":"Passengers in protective face masks are seen on St Pancras train station during an ongoing Coronavirus lockdown in London, England on February 15, 2021. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will not ease the lockdown restrictions in the near future. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka\/NurPhoto)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/19\/chaand-nagpaul-the-nhs-wont-cope-with-a-premature-lockdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chaand Nagpaul: The NHS won\u2019t cope with a premature end to lockdown\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/373707d32533c2cbca204980b8cd3493","name":"julietwalker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34f10b717c81464cc7a2879c84cd30078f63b5a901e12905a02abd9d1ea9ec90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"julietwalker"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/julietwalker\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}