Nearly two weeks have passed since my last update here, and the situation in Yemen is still deteriorating rapidly. One of the most shocking reports I have come across said that power cuts and fuel shortages mean that vulnerable patients are dying in hospitals in many parts of Yemen. Despite the seriousness of the situation there, I had great […]
Category: Guest writers
Aser García Rada: Spain’s healthcare revolution
Spain’s state run healthcare system, one of the best in the world according to the World Health Organization, is facing a serious threat. In the face of growing privatisation, cuts seem inevitable, especially after the overwhelming victory of the conservative Popular Party (PP) in the latest regional elections on 22 May. Since then the PP […]
A blog from a Shia doctor in Bahrain
When I went to the court room for a pre-trial hearing I was shocked by the state of the detained doctors. All of them looked the same. They were in filthy clothes, and some came to the trial in pyjamas. (During the trial, the judge said that they should be able to call their relatives […]
Yasir Hameed: The worsening humanitarian crisis in Taiz, Yemen
The clashes have been continuing on the outskirts of Taiz city. This report from the Yemen Post says that on the 8 June pro government gunmen broke into Al Thawra Hospital (the second main public hospital in Taiz, the first is Al Jumhory Hospital). The gunmen set up their positions in Al Thawra hospital from which to […]
Desmond O’Neill: A rare scientific hiccough at the science gallery
Despite a surprisingly large scientific heritage [1] , the Republic of Ireland has no science museum. Nature abhorring a vacuum, an innovative avenue for celebrating science was created by the opening of the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin in 2008. This flexible if modest space has been a runaway success under its gifted director, Michael […]
Peter Davies: Is it time to scrap the primary-secondary care divide?
Suppose a pathologist was to say, “Because I am not a GP I do not belong here.” Or a GP was to say, “Because I am not a cardio-thoracic surgeon I do not belong here.” No, (paraphrasing St Paul) we are all parts of one body of medical enterprise, and the patients need different doctors […]
Yasir Hameed: Yemeni doctors send their plea from the besieged city of Taiz
The health situation in the Yemeni city of Taiz is dire. The people there are suffering as a result of a brutal military offensive and siege that is cutting the city off from the outside world. Taiz city lies 256 km south of the capital Sana’a, and it is the most heavily populated city in […]
Sandy Goldbeck-Wood: Poetry, humanity and the prize
Why do some doctors write poems? I asked this once in a BMJ book review of poetry by doctors. 12 years on, gamekeeper-turned-poacher, it’s still Miroslav Holub’s answer I like best: “a poem arises when there’s nothing else to be done, as a last attempt at order when one can’t stand disorder any longer.” (1) […]
Magdalena Kincaid: Surgical training in Palestine
December 2009 heralded an unexpected start for a surgical course. Our family holiday in Jerusalem and the West Bank was predictable enough: visit the Old City, and to the children’s delight, Bethlehem. Who could have predicted that the antics of our three young children would became a magnet for an ad hoc conversation? Many Palestinians […]
Natalie Blencowe and Jane Blazeby: Core outcomes for surgical procedures
“Emergency surgery patients must have higher priority in NHS hospitals.” So say the new standards from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which highlight the wide range of complication rates following emergency surgery across the NHS. Interpreting these data is not straightforward, not least because there are no accepted standards for measuring or defining […]