A link to a podcast of Professor Richard Ashcroft’s belated inaugural lecture can be found here:  The Republic of Health – Ethics and Politics in 21st Century Healthcare

And since Richard is one of JME’s deputy editors I thought some folk might be interested. The abstract is below the fold.

Richard Ashcroft, Professor of bioethics at Queen Mary, University of London, is currently involved in various high-profile research projects funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) on the regulation of biomedicine. In his inaugural lecture, Professor Richard Ashcroft discusses the influence of political philosophy on health policies and ask whether ideology reflects what is really happening in GPs surgeries and hospital wards. Professor Ashcroft examines current political thinking with its emphasis on patient “choice and empowerment”, encouraging people to take greater responsibility for their own health and welfare.

I attended the talk myself and quite enjoyed it – I thought a useful critique of the focus in modern bioethics on autonomy.