This blog was commissioned following a debate on assisted dying at the BMA ARM. It is part of a collection of blogs on the topic. Jacky Davis argues that the BMA should move to a neutral position on assisted dying. Sheila Hollins et al argue that the BMA is right to reject a neutral position. In […]
Category: Guest writers
Basil Porter: Deadly silence
I recently returned from a fiftieth anniversary reunion of our Witwatersrand Medical School graduating class in Johannesburg, South Africa. Many had spent their careers outside of South Africa, most in the USA, Canada, Israel and the UK. During formal sessions, people were asked to talk about our student days and their subsequent lives. A few […]
Adrian James: Why mental health treatment should only ever be “patient-first”
Earlier this month I spoke at a conference on Psychological Therapies for Severe and Prolonged Mental Illness in London. I was one of only two psychiatrists on the bill, among many psychologists putting forward a “therapies first” approach to the treatment of severe mental health problems. As I said at the conference, I have a problem […]
Oliver Minton: Cancer survivorship—where to next
I was invited to attend the inaugural cancer survivorship conference in Brussels—at the time our interests aligned (and indeed still do). The conference felt different with patient groups, bankers, actuaries and even royalty alongside all the usual suspects. I left feeling hugely positive about what could be achieved with governmental and organisational backing. However this […]
Lara Fairall: Serendipity and scaling up towards universal primary care
A Brazilian adaptation of our PACK training programme for primary care doctors and nurses went live last week in the Southern city of Florianὸpolis, or Floripa as it is known to locals, amid great excitement including a clip on local television. We’ve spent 15 years in South Africa developing, researching, and fine tuning our programme. PACK, […]
Alex Langford: The media stigmatise mental health problems
The anguish and despair caused by a public tragedy can be overwhelming. At such times the natural human response is to try to make sense of events, which allows us to grieve together. The media are at the forefront of this process, distilling their narrative from a mix of public sentiment and private opinion. So […]
Peter Thomson: Standing up for the rights of migrants and refugees in Europe
Recently I had the opportunity to watch a special screening of “Frontline Doctors: Winter Migrant Crisis” supported by Doctors of the World UK. Originally shown on the BBC in March, this uncompromising documentary follows Chris and Xand Van Tulleken across Europe, observing migrants fleeing during winter, and offers an insight into the sheer scale of […]
Angela Coulter: At last some better news on shared decision making
Shared decision making has now entered common parlance. Everyone seems to be talking about it and the term pops up frequently in report after report. But we can’t assume it’s fully embedded in mainstream clinical practice just because it’s talked about a lot. On the contrary. A recent review from the Care Quality Commission found […]
Sheila Hollins et al: The BMA is right to reject a neutral position on assisted dying
The BMA’s annual representative meeting was right to reject a policy of neutrality on “assisted dying.” The “do no harm” principle lies at the centre of clinical practice and underpins everything we do as doctors. For the BMA to fold its arms and tell the world that it has no policy on whether doctors should […]
Jacky Davis: The BMA should move to a neutral position on assisted dying
“Whether you agree with assisted dying or not, whether you decide to participate or not, we will be at the table to protect your rights and interests. Legalisation of AD is a societal prerogative. It is a done deal. But we still have an opportunity to help shape what it will look like in practice.” Dr […]