Having decided to write a blog during this academic year living in the US, I hadn’t anticipated my tardiness would be because moving the family overseas was vastly more effort than I anticipated. A stroke in a family member at home came suddenly and unexpectedly, and a hurricane hit the city I’m currently calling home. […]
Category: Douglas Noble
Do we now need a public health media centre?
The effectiveness of the public health workforce hinges on its ability to effectively communicate its key messages to the public. As the Department of Health undertakes yet another consultation on public health the question is: do we now need a public health media centre? […]
Douglas Noble and Dianna Smith on historical health inequalities
This month we published a report on risk of type two diabetes in East London, with an accompanying paper in BMJ Open, and underpinned by a previous systematic review in BMJ. We took a risk scoring algorithm, the QDScore, and used it on just over half a million electronic records to identify high risk groups. […]
Douglas Noble on the Falconer report
Last year I blogged about the commission set up by Lord Falconer on assisted suicide. It was clear from the outset that this commission was fatally flawed, not least because of the pro-assisted suicide stance of almost every member of the committee. Unsurprisingly the collection of evidence and hearings was unlikely to have a major impact given […]
Douglas Noble and Felix Greaves: stealth attack on public health
Last month we drew attention to three critical pieces of data that painted a picture of the piece by piece dismantling of the public health specialist workforce. Consultant appointment processes have dropped considerably in the last three years, registrars at end of training are failing to get substantive full time consultant posts, and academic public […]
Douglas Noble on Lifebox
It’s great to see patient safety getting such a prominent focus on bmj.com this Christmas with support for the charity Lifebox. Lifebox’s first aim is trying to ensure a pulse oximeter gets into every operating theatre across the world. I hope we’ll all manage to give generously http://www.bmj.com/multimedia/video/2011/12/02/lifebox-appeal-atul-gawande The desire for safer surgery has gathered momentum in […]
Douglas Noble on vaccinating doctors
As I lay in Regents Park on Saturday 1 October showing my one year old daughter the falling autumnal leaves and conkers it hardly felt like winter was approaching. Not least because it was thirty degrees Celsius, and there was more ice cream on sale than climate change proponents could swallow. Yet, winter is on the way and unofficial […]
Douglas Noble on the riots
The recent riots in London and across the UK have been an awakening for many to realise the deep seated social problems in post modern British society. The right look for thugs to be prosecuted, while the left demand further description and analysis of the complex “causes of the causes.” Both approaches are polarised and neither […]
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 minster and deputy prime minister in a rage because the camera crew were not suitably dressed for a hospital. It hit home on all sorts […]
Douglas Noble on the BMJ Group Awards 2011
The 3rd BMJ Group Awards took place on 18th May. All the great and good in healthcare, national and international, assembled for 13 awards, including the prestigious lifetime achievement award. As the medical bigwigs entered the palatial Hilton Metropole Ballroom in triumphal procession, they were greeted with flashing multicoloured lights, rock music, and a definite […]