Personalised medicine has become the “holy grail” of modern medical research and has been embraced by policy makers and healthcare providers as a route to more satisfied patients, more effective and efficient health services, potentially even reducing demand through more effective prediction and prevention of disease. But what do today’s health professionals make of this, […]
Category: Guest writers
David McCoy: Antibiotic resistance is also a food and climate issue
When George Osborne spoke to the IMF in April about antibiotic resistance being a greater threat to mankind than cancer, one might assume that the current government had actually listened to some professional advice from the medical community. Sally Davies, the country’s Chief Medical Officer, has been raising the alarm that the growing emergence of […]
Richard Lehman: Is gardening good for your health?
At the rear of the grand London buildings which house the BMA and the BMJ offices, there is a tranquil garden, sheltered by tall buildings and lovingly tended by Daniella Sikora. Over the last two weeks it has provided the backdrop to two early evening lecture sessions on gardening and health, forming part of the […]
Nigel Edwards: The NHS workforce crisis may be irreversible
A great deal of the current focus in the NHS is on the financial challenges it faces. These are undoubtedly severe, but I think they may be obscuring a problem that is at least as serious: the state of the workforce. There are a number of inter-related components, including poor morale, bullying and looming shortages […]
Lloyd Hughes: The uncertainty of Brexit poses a risk to the wellbeing of the NHS
“There are substantial risks for the country’s health service and pharmaceuticals industry,” if the UK votes to leave the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) warns an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Report that analyzed the possible impact of a Brexit on the healthcare sector. [1] To date much of the discussion surrounding Brexit […]
Improving care and support for people living with breathlessness
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a type of obstructive lung disease characterised by poor long-term airflow, which carries a high symptom burden, particularly increasing breathlessness. COPD is progressive, accounting for one death every 20 minutes in England and Wales. National strategy documents from the UK state that quality end-of-life care should be available to […]
Neel Sharma: The dark side of medical education
As a trainee and keen medical educationalist I have witnessed the rapid rise of movement in medical education. At a time where there was minimal change it seems now that we are in constant flux with new headlines appearing frequently on how best we should teach and assess doctors in training. […]
Bernard Merkel: Brexit and health
In 1991 I was seconded from the Department of Health to the European Commission, and during my subsequent years there, the prevailing view in the UK, with a few limited exceptions, has been that the EU had little to do with health and virtually nothing to do with the NHS. So I never thought that […]
Alice Munro: The National Emissions Ceilings Directive—a critical week for the health of Europeans
Today EU leaders will attempt to come to an agreement on air pollution reduction targets that will determine the quality of our air for the next 15 years. The National Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive is a key piece of EU emissions legislation that is central to efforts to reduce air pollution. [1] The success of […]
Dan Kremer: Time limits on published sanctions are needed but we must tailor them to doctors’ circumstances
We are pleased that the General Medical Council (GMC) has changed its policy on how long it publishes sanctions imposed on doctors, but do not believe it sufficiently considers individual doctors’ circumstances. Currently all sanctions on a doctor’s registration, imposed by either a fitness to practise panel or an interim orders panel, remain on the […]