In 2000 the Direct Provision scheme was officially introduced by the Irish government. The scheme requires asylum seekers to live in designated accommodation centres while they await decisions on their application for refugee or humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland. Initially, it was expected that the maximum time spent in Direct Provision would be six […]
Category: Guest writers
Chris van Stolk and Joanna Hofman: Helping people with mental health problems to stay in work
Reducing mental ill health in the UK remains a significant policy challenge for government. Just over 6 million working age people have mental health problems, with 39 per cent of those seeking help and 24 per cent receiving treatment. However, a recent report from the National Audit Office (NAO) […]
Jonny Martell: Opening a dialogue in mental health
I was there the first time my father saw the psychiatrist. I think it was the only time, in his study at home. I remember I was seated behind him, a bit to the side. A little out of the way. Walking down the corridor afterwards, my father still seated by the fire, the psychiatrist […]
Iain Chalmers: Should the Cochrane logo be accompanied by a health warning?
The birth of the Cochrane logo Twenty four summers ago I asked David Mostyn to design a logo to illustrate the objectives of the soon-to-be-opened Cochrane Centre. He did a good job: the circle reflects global objectives and international collaboration; the mirror image “Cs” stood for the Cochrane Centre (and, a year later, the Cochrane […]
Paul Aylin: Weekend Gravity Waves
On 15th September 2016, a letter appeared in The Guardian with an unlikely collection of signatories including Lords, an MP, a number of medics, a leader in evidence based medicine and the physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. [1] The letter drew attention to the “freshly disputed evidence surrounding a weekend effect”, suggesting that claims for this […]
Laurence Gerlis: Is private medical practice that bad?
During my 30 years as a private GP I have become used to being insulted by other doctors. Some see us as mercenary quacks, with little genuine interest in patients’ needs, who overprescribe and bombard NHS GPs with useless health screening reports. NHS doctors are not volunteers, they are paid. All patients pay for NHS […]
Nicholas S Hopkinson reviews “The state of medicine”
“I am furious, sad, and scared for the NHS” —Margaret McCartney’s opening words in the introduction to her latest, timely book, The State of Medicine (Pinter and Martin 2016). Understandable sentiments, as the NHS heads for £20 billion/year underfunding by 2020 and politicians can launch thinly veiled xenophobic attacks on our colleagues born overseas. McCartney’s writing […]
Mary Higgins: Breaking bad news in maternity care
There’s one thing I really hate about my job, and that’s a particular phone call. A midwife I respect will ring and ask can I come down straight away. A woman has presented because her baby hasn’t moved in a couple of hours, and the midwife can’t hear a heartbeat. As I enter the room, […]
Chris Packham: The trouble with public health
People think public health is all (lecturing the masses on) sex, drugs, and alcohol. Even fellow clinicians tend to forget about defined roles such as the public health specialist. These individuals focus on using public health approaches to ensure cost-effective and appropriate planning, commissioning, and provision of NHS services. They can and do help the NHS and […]
Mark Mikhail: The unsung hero of the Paralympic games
As the dust settles and we look back on an incredible Olympics followed by an even more successful Paralympics it is impossible to not be filled with admiration. We in the UK have shown that with investment, time, and masses of effort comes ascendancy and victory. 147 medals won at the 2016 Paralympic Games, 64 […]