The UK has (so far) experienced five heatwaves in one summer. Record temperatures have been repeatedly broken and in the June heatwave records show that the London Ambulance Service responded to a record number of life-threatening emergencies, the highest in its history. (1,2) From the UKHSA’s Health Effects of Climate Change report, we know we […]
Latest articles
What the Team Feels: Psychodynamics, Risk and Reflection in Forensic Psychiatry. By Angela Misra and Farheen Ebrahim
Teams function best when they can reflect on their emotional responses. This blog will explore how reflection can be used in stressful team situations to improve decision-making using examples from forensic psychiatry. Team dynamics are particularly intensified in forensic psychiatry when treating service users who evoke strong and differing emotional responses. Leadership in this context […]
Ending with the Beginning in Mind: Reflections from the FMLM National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellowship. By Lynda Odoh
My favourite part of a run is not the run itself. It is the moment I stop my watch. The moment I look back. How many miles did I cover? Where did I find my rhythm? Where did I slow down? How does today compare with yesterday? Last week? Last month? There is something deeply […]
Continuity as a System Behaviour Across Care Boundaries. By Phil Whatling
Introduction Continuity of care is often discussed in terms of patients seeing their usual GP. For many patients in general practice long-term therapeutic relationships remain both one of the profession’s greatest strengths and central to how care is experienced. What clinicians across general practice, community services and hospitals see each day suggests a broader reality. […]
Is the NHS Ready for Sustainable Food Choices? By Jason Yun, Natasha Guildford, and Cat Pinho-Gomes
Food represents a substantial and yet often overlooked contributor to the carbon footprint of healthcare systems. In the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, it is estimated to generate approximately 1.54 MtCO2e annually, which represents around 6% of total emissions. 1 Despite the significant role that food and catering can play in helping […]
The cult of AI in healthcare. By Shiva Pandey
I am a geriatrician, which means I spend my days with older people — usually polite, usually grateful — and a surprising amount of my work involves taking things away: the medications and interventions that no longer benefit the patient. It is good, fulfilling work. I would like to think my patients are fond of […]
Where influence ends: A lesson for Clinical Leaders. By Paul Molyneux
Recently, I was discussing the Stoic dichotomy of control with a group of senior clinical leaders. Of several concepts we explored, this one seemed to create the most tension, as if I had unintentionally challenged a deeply held belief about what it means to lead. This surprised me. The Stoic argument that there are some […]
Eat last, count least – Five shifts to make maternal nutrition a question of justice in Asia and the Pacific. By Vani Sethi and Aashima Garg
Whether a woman is nourished before, during and after pregnancy is not a medical question. It is a question of whether her right to nutrition is honoured or set aside. Asia and the Pacific is where that question will be answered for most of the world’s women. More than a billion women of reproductive age […]
Advocacy without borders: why medicine needs a global approach to social media ethics. By Amy Perkins
Early-career clinicians are entering medicine at a time when social media is not an optional extra, but a core part of how information is shared, consumed and trusted. While some senior colleagues may still view social media as a recreational space, younger professionals are more likely to recognise its role in education and public health […]
The Health Bill mends one link in the complaints chain and weakens another. By Vsevolod Shabad
A patient’s complaint could change something only if four things hold together: it is easy to raise, it is handled properly rather than lost, the body that receives it has a reason to act on it rather than bury it, and someone independent can check that it did. The Dash Review of patient safety, published […]