UK justice secretary Ken Clarke was only expressing a truism about the control of drugs when, last month, he told the Commons home affairs select committee he “frankly conceded that policy has not been working …it could be argued we are going backwards at times.” Rather than steaming towards clear blue water and suggesting some change […]
Category: Guest writers
James Hopkins and Jane Blazeby: Development of a core outcome set for bariatric surgery
Obesity is a growing problem in affluent parts of the world—for example, North America and Europe—where more than a quarter of the population are obese (BMI >30) and 3-5% are severely obese (BMI >40). Obesity is associated with many health problems including high blood pressure (5.5 times more likely in people who are obese), diabetes […]
Penny Campling: Thoughts on healthcare culture
How many of us feel the culture in the NHS brings out the best in us? Judging from the majority of staff surveys, not many. I happen to think this matters enormously. Staff really are the greatest asset to any organisation, especially an organisation where caring is a fundamental part of the task. Creating the […]
Alison Spurrier: who are chaperones really for—a nurse’s perspective
Fiona Pathiraja’s blog “Who are chaperones really for?” set me thinking about my own practice and how nurses react to similar circumstances. I am a general medical nurse with 35 years of experience. Intimate care of both men and women is central to a nurse’s daily work. We need to carry out personal care in […]
David Pencheon: Don’t always put patients first.
Patient health, patient experience, and health outcomes for individuals and populations should always be at the heart of the NHS. But the best way to actually achieve this most effectively might be to address it more obliquely. […]
Steve Yentis: Infamous names in anaesthesia—part one
Roger Maltby’s book Notable Names in Anaesthesia contains fascinating biographies of some of the great and the good whose names are familiar to anaesthetists everywhere, such as Magill and Macintosh. Since it was written, a new category of notable names has appeared: those anaesthetists who are famous for the wrong reasons. I’d like to suggest […]
Veena Rao: Should under-nutrition in India be addressed as a population issue?
The time is ripe in India to consider under-nutrition as a population issue, rather than a women and children’s issue, as it is viewed presently by government, governmental advisors and experts, and other stakeholders. Apart from worrisome child under-nutrition indicators and infant, child, and maternal mortality rates, indicators of under-nutrition and anemia among adult males […]
Desmond O’Neill on the medical and ethical themes in Prometheus
Switching off can be hard in medicine. No matter where one turns, the observational reflex kicks in, prompted by the goitre of the newscaster or the Bell’s palsy of the bank teller. And we can run but they won’t hide, as I found out at a late night outing to Prometheus, the latest instalment of […]
Fran Baum: The conclusion of the Third People’s Health Assembly
The last three plenary sessions of the Third People’s Health Assembly (PHA) were used to debate the People’s Health Movement’s (PHM) strategies and priorities for the future. These sessions enabled the health activists from around the world to build on their experiences, and devise the issues that the PHM will address in coming years. Key […]
Sharon L Camp: Putting family planning back on the global agenda
What will it take to ensure that all women in the developing world can determine for themselves when and if to have a child, have healthy and planned pregnancies, and increase their chances of leading healthier, more productive lives? This week, world leaders gathered at the London Summit on Family Planning to address these questions […]