Now that things are happening less rapidly at Fukushima, I’ve been looking less frequently at the status reports. It became obvious early on that the general aftermath of the earthquake, the loss of electrical power and communication, and other factors were leading to erroneous reports and too much instant interpretation. Taking some time helps to […]
Category: Guest writers
Cheryl Rofer on the nuclear reactors damaged in the Japanese earthquake
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has six reactors. It is located on Japan’s northeast coast, close to the earthquake’s epicenter. A tsunami higher than any anticipated took the plant’s generators out of service. In a nuclear power plant, the core, where the nuclear reactions take place, generates heat, which boils water and further heats […]
Kailash Chand on the BMA’s opposition to NHS reforms
BMA members rather than the organisation itself called a special representative meeting (SRM) on the 15th March 2011, the second in two decades. Dr Hamish Meldrum, the chair of the BMA council, appeared visibly anxious and keen to maintain the unity of the profession. In a professionally delivered speech he struck exactly the right balance […]
Ryuki Kassai from Fukushima: the first seven days of the disaster
First of all, I want to express my deep sympathy for those who lost their loved ones, their houses, their work, their home towns, and their hope by this terrible disaster. Who, in later times, will be able to understand that we had to fall again into the darkness after we had once known the […]
David Kerr: Would you rather work for Google or the NHS?
Would you rather work for Google or the NHS? Started in 1996 in a Stanford University student room by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the plan was originally to call the newly created search engine, BackRub. Since then Google has become one of the top 10 companies in the world (number 4 at the moment) […]
Nick Goodwin: Can we justify the investment in telehealth and telecare?
Last week The King’s Fund hosted the International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare to a packed audience of 350 delegates with another 1600 from 59 countries watching remotely. The main attraction was some early findings from the Department of Health’s Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) Pilot Programme – the largest cluster randomised control trial (RCT) of […]
Vasiliy Vlassov: The weekly rhythm of deliveries in Russia
Studies of biological rhythms used to be very popular. A quick check on Medline showed me that in 1964-1973, 2/10 000 publications were related to biorhythm studies and in 2001-2010 there were more – 8/10 000. The spectrum of publications is slowly changing in the collection reflected in Medline, but the number of studies of […]
David Kerr: Gordon Gekko and the NHS
Here in United States, the latest must have app contains software that blocks any mention of the actor, Charlie Sheen. Until recently, Sheen was the highest paid television star in the world but was fired last week after making caustic comments about his employers in public. Subsequently, he has just been awarded the Guinness World […]
Tiago Villanueva: Choose your trainer wisely
When choosing a specialty, many prospective trainees will thoroughly consider the location and the institution. This is self evident. If you can’t fare without the big city perks and comforts, you’re probably better off in London than in the Orkney islands. If living close to your family and friends is extremely important for you, perhaps […]
Ivan Perry on stammering
The film “The King’s Speech” which portrays King George VI of England’s life long struggle with a stammer and his relationship with Lionel Logue, his speech therapist, has raised the profile of stammering and possibly dispelled some myths on the nature of this enigmatic condition. The problem of stammering can seem straightforward to the fluent […]