I was once responsible for Family Doctor Publications, which were a series of booklets owned by the BMA, had titles like You and Your Bowels, and sold in huge numbers in the 1950s because they were almost the only information on health available to the public. I was much amused that in the 50s the […]
My mother is a wonderful woman but has no short term memory and drinks too much alcohol. When she’s sober her language is complex and her sense of humour magnificent. “What a terrible world,” she says, watching the television news, “I’m glad I’m not in it.” In a way, she isn’t. She’s mildly disinhibited even […]
There seems to be a growing attitude that the Francis Report will not result in any great change. No doubt there will be a few worthy policies generated—although the amount of linked documentation is as likely to distract and irritate as it is to inspire more attentive caring. But any hope that it will be […]
Helsinki in summer is a delight, its streetscapes of Russian influenced architecture illuminated and lifted by the interplay of the midnight sun and the ever present sea. The occasion was the triennial joint congress of five Finnish societies for research in ageing, a vibrant meeting of over 800 scientists, researchers, and clinicians. Once again, I […]
I was at a conference on doctors and social media recently, sharing a platform with the GMC. The organisers put up some darkly funny tweets by doctors at the ends of their tethers, usually fired off in the small hours. There were jokes at the expense of patients and juniors, managers and colleagues…The question for […]
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” goes the saying. Recently I was bemoaning with a physician friend the ease with which learners often default to “expert” interpretation for imaging, rather than relying on or trusting their one x-ray interpretation in light of clinical judgment. As we shared back and forth our stories of radiologist […]
Today marks three years of working for Welbodi Partnership and it’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by. The last time I blogged, I wrote about getting more involved clinically. Well, that spell ended rather quickly, and before I knew it I was back to managing various projects. Managing projects might sound […]
Everybody knows that men think about sex every seven seconds. What people haven’t perhaps considered is that means more than 8000 times a day or 56 000 times a week. Despite the joke that if men only think about sex every seven seconds what on earth do they think about the rest of the time, […]
“We need to standardize our systems of practice to improve our quality metrics and do a better job of caring for our patients.” Such was the thrust of a recent management meeting, yet it left me wondering whether or not we are headed in the right direction. Increased public reporting of quality “metrics,” focus on […]
“Longevity is one of the greatest curses introduced by the scientists,” wrote Evelyn Waugh in a letter to Harold Action in 1961, a few days after his 58th birthday. I read this a few days after I had given a talk on the pandemic of NCD (non-communicable disease) where I emphasised that the pandemic was […]