Although I’m not usually political by a long shot, the presidential transition in the US today has made me reflect on Barack Obama’s legacy and his mantra of: “Fired up, ready to go!” I transplanted these words temporarily and thought back to where I currently stand as a junior doctor. When I left medical school […]
Category: Guest writers
David Shaw: The implications of conflicts of interest for informed consent
The General Medical Council (GMC) has detailed guidelines on handling conflicts of interest. These state that “You must not allow any interests you have to affect the way you prescribe for, treat, refer, or commission services for patients.” [1] But in many cases, doctors who fail to disclose a conflict of interest are not only […]
Miranda Wolpert: We must set realistic expectations for outcomes in child mental health
The secretary of state for health, Jeremy Hunt, identified Child and Young People’s Mental Health Services as “the biggest single area of weakness in NHS provision at the moment.” Hardly a day goes by when there is not another story in the press about children and young people failing to get access to or needing to travel […]
Seth Berkley: The new priority in Syria is preventing epidemics
Regardless of how the current ceasefire agreement in Syria came about, it has—to a large extent—brought a welcome halt to hostilities in many parts of the country. But as one humanitarian crisis is suspended, another potentially hangs in the balance—the growing threat of epidemics. With no way of knowing how long the ceasefire will last, […]
Samir Dawlatly: The perfect storm to distract us from a crisis
All over social media recently there has been wailing and gnashing of teeth by GPs, such as myself, at suggestions that the opening hours of general practice are in some way to blame for the crisis in hospitals up and down the country. A single paper initially led with the story that the Prime Minister was […]
Florence Wilcock: Maternity voices partnerships—“No hierarchy, just people”
“No decision about me without me” has been a key element of NHS rhetoric since 2012. It’s a great idea, however, the current reality is that as a universal principle this remains far from true. Why is there still such a struggle to make this happen? In healthcare there is an increasing acceptance of the […]
Lindsay-Ann Coyle and Sarah Atkinson: Living with multimorbidity
“I sometimes refer to myself as having OCD and sometimes refer to myself as having an eating disorder.” Living with multimorbidity may constitute one of the biggest challenges to how contemporary medicine is practised. The number of people living with multimorbidity is predicted to double in one decade—that is from 1.9m to 2.9m between 2008 […]
Arnie Purushotham: Multidisciplinary team meetings in cancer care need to change
Multidisciplinary team (MDT) working is one of the cornerstones of our cancer services. MDT meetings are vital for exemplary patient care but it is becoming increasingly clear that they need to be refreshed. Despite the rising incidence of cancer, an ageing population and huge improvements to cancer services and treatment regimens, the format of MDT […]
Mikako Hayashi and Nairn Wilson: Time to put the mouth back in the body
We believe that it is time to put the mouth back in the body—for medical, social, and financial reasons. Healthcare worldwide needs to become more inclusive and holistic, to move from being curative to preventive, and to bring oral healthcare into the medical mainstream. A recent analysis from the British Dental Association, which estimated that […]
Narinder Kapur: Promoting compassion in healthcare—ask “How are you coping?”
The issue of showing compassion in healthcare was highlighted by the Mid-Staffordshire Reports, and it was given a major boost by the movement started by the late Dr Kate Granger, based on the phrase, “Hello my name is.” I propose an extension to this phrase with the sentence, “How are you coping?” to be used […]