A striking aspect of clinician involvement in bioethics is the therapeutic focus they bring to the table. Time and again, when non clinician ethicists present dilemmas, the doctors propose fresh diagnostic and therapeutic options, from therapist inputs to treatment choices. These release a creativity that liberates problems from artificially dichotomous and often more emotionally charged […]
Category: Guest writers
Fred Kavalier: Judge not
Do doctors and judges inhabit different worlds? A judgment handed down this week makes me feel they do. I do not think justice has been done in the case of Sean Maguire. Dr Maguire was the GP who, on 29 August 1993, saw a two year old child with a runny nose, which he diagnosed […]
Lungiswa Nkonki, Mabel Carabali and Beverly Ho: Emerging voices in health systems research
In 2010, young researchers from developing countries were invited by the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Belgium to join in the scientific debate and actively participate in the First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Montreux, Switzerland. Over 300 researchers from developing countries responded to this call. 52 emerging voices from 26 countries […]
Krishna Chinthapalli: How to read the unconscious mind
Years ago, I stumbled across Roald Dahl’s macabre short stories whilst looking for tales of chocolate factories and witches’ conferences. In one of the most famous stories, William and Mary, a terminally ill husband, William, consents to a gruesome experiment upon his death. He lets a neurosurgeon keep his brain and an eye alive in […]
Kailash Chand on the NHS commissioning board
In the Department of Health’s guidance Developing the NHS Commissioning Board, David Nicholson stated: “CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups) will be the engine of the new system and things will only be done at a different level of the system where there is evidence that this produces better results.” However, there is wide spread concern that […]
Katy Cooper: NCDs, MDGs, SDGs – a crowded space explained
Since the United Nations (UN) high-level Meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in September 2011 things have got busy—and potentially confusing. Running in parallel to the establishment of a new “global framework for NCDs” are negotiations at UN and World Health Organization (WHO) level on what will replace the Millennium Development Goals (which are due to […]
Rob Hampton: Long term absence needs to be case managed
At the end of November the government will give its response to last year’s sickness absence review led by business leader David Frost and healthcare expert Dame Carol Black. A key recommendation of the review was the establishment of an independent assessment service (IAS), to which GPs could refer patients who have been off work […]
Fred Kavalier: Not very harmonious
Newspapers these days have a steady stream of stories about the alleged failings and dirty dealings of private companies who are providing services to the NHS. Saturday’s Guardian (10 November 2012) has a story about Harmoni, the UK’s biggest out of hours provider that has recently been sold to Care UK for £48m. According to […]
Ian Liddell-Grainger: What more can be done to improve patient access to medical technologies?
Despite an increasing number of medical technologies that have the power to save and enhance lives, a high proportion of healthcare professionals still believe that the NHS has been too slow to embrace innovative ideas and technology. Many point out the stark variations in uptake of medical technologies across the country, not to mention the […]
Desmond O’Neill: The location of Ireland’s new national children’s hospital
One of the hottest topics in Irish medical politics finally came to a head this week with the announcement of the location of the new national childrens’ hospital, amalgamating the three Dublin paediatric hospitals on the site of an adult hospital. For the host institution, this was a step of the utmost importance, as its […]