The nurse steps forward into the circle, putting her hands together. She prays aloud, “in Jesus’ name,” asking that our four day workshop at the Children’s Hospital be blessed, “so that we might put everything that we have learnt into practice.” After a rousing Christian song, we proceed directly to the Muslim prayer. Nearly every […]
Category: Guest writers
Emily Spry’s first impressions of working in Sierra Leone
I’m excited to have started at the Ola During Children’s Hospital in Freetown, after hearing so much about it from the Welbodi Partnership, the charity I’ll be working for over the next year. On first impressions, things at the hospital look good. There are freshly painted wards and uniformed nurses. There are notices on the […]
Stephen Ginn on David Nutt being sacked
Having been sacked from his position as the chief UK government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt may today be reflecting on the precarious position of anyone who seeks to advise politicians on controversial matters. […]
John Coggon: Can a conscience dictate?
If I asked a physiologist to show me where her conscience is, I’m fairly sure she’d not be able to. Yet, it seems, a great many doctors appeal directly to their consciences, or at least wish to be free to do so. This is a little strange. If a patient says “God makes me do […]
Douglas Noble: Patient safety – diagnostic errors
Last week I fell onto an outstretched hand and clinically had an obvious fracture on the ulnar side of my left wrist. Interestingly, the very diligent nurse practitioner who examined me became fixated on my scaphoid – having pushed extraordinarily hard in the anatomical snuffbox and eliciting pain. Scaphoid views were requested and no fracture […]
Paul Hodgkin: It’s a two way street now
Medicine has always been a pretty one-way business. We know, they don’t. It is us that ask the questions, their bodies that slip under our knives. Patients of course have always had their own opinions, told their side of the story to families and friends in the pub, kept their own counsel around the factory […]
Til Wykes on the Declaration on Mental Health Research
Last Wednesday was the launch of the Declaration on Mental Health Research. This initiative is aimed at drawing attention to the imbalance of resources devoted to research on mental illnesses as compared to other disabling conditions (see http://www.researchmentalhealth.org.uk/). Mental health problems account for 15% of disability and yet only receive 5% of the research resources, […]
Vidhya Alakeson on the US Finance Committee bill
Few people outside of Washington have heard of Olympia Snowe, the senator from Maine. But on Tuesday, she became the most important person in healthcare reform. Her vote in the Senate Finance Committee gave the Obama Administration its first bipartisan victory on healthcare. […]
Louise Kenny: Flying solo
After the blow to my confidence last week with obstetrics patients, I have developed a healthy fear of the uterus and have understandably been reluctant to see ante-natal, labouring, or post-natal patients. Any organ that bleeds 500ml a minute is a thing to be feared in my book. Of course the problem with my reluctance […]
Sheila McLean on advance directives and the case of Kerrie Wooltorton
The inquest into the death of Kerrie Wooltorton in 2007 has focused some media attention on advance decisions (directives), or so-called ‘living wills’. While undoubtedly a tragic case, however, it is worth unpicking what we can actually learn from it. […]