An item in The Lancet last week (Godecharle et al. Lancet 2013;381:10097-8) bemoans the lack of a regulatory framework for research integrity in Europe. The confusion is neatly illustrated by a map categorising countries by how they handle misconduct. The UK falls into the second best category, along with Germany and Sweden, of countries that […]
Category: Columnists
David Lock: “Privatisation regulations” mean big change
It is not every day that the Department of Health produces a formal response to two of my dry (and I accept potentially fairly boring) legal opinions. 23 March was a red letter day because it was the first time it has happened. The department produced a formal response to material I and my fellow barrister, Ligia […]
Desmond O’Neill: Fresh approaches to long term care medicine in Washington, DC
Washington in spring is a visual treat, the spectacular arrays of cherry trees in bloom adding a frothy filigree to the sober magnificence of the iconic National Mall. Throw in blue skies and crisp spring weather, and it is not surprising that crowds flock to its Cherry Blossom Festival at weekends in March and April. […]
Richard Smith: Should the first priority of the NHS be to stop us dying or to help us die well?
Good Friday is an excellent day for thinking about death, but I think about death every day. I find it energising. As I write this blog on Easter Sunday, I read that Bruce Keogh, the medical director of NHS England, thinks that the first priority if the NHS is to stop us dying. Minutes after reading […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Research misconduct, actually
This month the open access journal with the highest impact factor: PLoS Med (short for Public Library of Science Medicine) will publish a set of articles on research misconduct. The main articles are broken down into research misconduct in high-income countries and research misconduct in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). I am second author […]
David Lock: A new and very different type of NHS in England
April 1 2013 saw the launch of a very different type of NHS in England. The current government has grappled with the same problems as all previous governments, but imposed radical surgery on an ageing patient. The previous government struggled with the problem of getting improved productivity and common high standards out of a largely […]
David Lock: Government creates bedblocking headache for CCGs on the day CCGs are created
The fact that 1 April is “April Fool’s day” ought to be enough to warn governments of all shades that it is a bad day to make major changes to government services, but that is the day that the latest batch of NHS reforms comes into play. It is the day that CCGs will take […]
Richard Smith: I was a flop
I give a lot of talks, probably far too many. Sometimes they go well. Sometimes they are awful. A recent talk I gave was a flop. I failed to deliver what the audience wanted, and I was exposed as a fake. The event was at Madingley Hall, Cambridge University’s sub-Downton Abbey conference centre. I was […]
Richard Smith: Should the NHS be scrapped?
I’ve just been listening to a report on the radio about people with learning disorders dying 20 years prematurely because the NHS doesn’t treat them adequately. The Care Quality Commission says that a fifth of hospitals don’t provide dignified care for elderly people. A London professor said at the weekend that 20 000 people may […]
Pritpal S Tamber: Innovation, lazy commentators, and data Darwinism
One of the most common questions I have had since becoming the clinical editor of TEDMED is what’s the “next big thing.” When I started the role I actually tried to answer but as time has gone on I have resisted—and felt more and more disappointed with the people asking the question. My disappointment has […]