If I had one thing in healthcare to banish to my room 101, the choice would be easy: waste, inefficiency, and delays. “That’s three things”’ I hear you shout. Yes OK, but: in the NHS they go hand in hand; they are part of the guise that Andrew Lansley used to push through his dubious […]
Category: Guest writers
Rhys Davies: The patient will see you now
It’s that time of year again when exams rear their ugly heads. Not for me though—this year’s exams are long over. Instead, the third years are facing their first OSCEs (objective structured clinical exams). Last week, I volunteered for one of the numerous mock OSCEs organised for them by various well-meaning educational student societies. I […]
Gabriel Scally at the World Congress of Public Health
In an attention-grabbing presentation, Paul Walker, of the US affiliate Green Cross International, engrossed delegates at the World Congress of Public Health in Addis Ababa with his skillful exposition of the burden on humanity represented by warfare and the preparations for it. Tying the issues neatly into the concerns of Africa, he noted that the […]
Gabriel Scally: The flying doctors service of East Africa and Sylvia Pankhurst
The Flying Doctors Service of East Africa sounds like an echo from a romantic, and bygone age. But its formation in 1957 was the first step in the creation of a major African health development organisation that has been given the World Federation of Public Health Associations’ Institutional Award at the 13th World Congress of […]
John Clark on engaging leadership: hope for the future lies with a new breed of doctors
With a few exceptions, medical students have little, if any, training in management, leadership, and service improvement. Yet from the moment they graduate, doctors require a range of such competencies, which become more important as they progress to become consultants and general practitioners. Early exposure to management and leadership should provide the foundation for an […]
Mary Madden: Are medical conferences useful?
In his recent Viewpoint piece [1], John Ioannidis asks whether medical conferences serve any useful purpose other than as carbon-guzzling showcases for opinion leaders and pharma-funded research. He also proposes that nobody with ties to industry over the last 3 years be allowed to organise a conference. Ioannidis’ concerns resonate loudly following my participant observation […]
Andrew Moscrop: Neonatal intensive care, Pakistan
There are five sick babies and only four incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit. What do I do? The infants who get the incubators and the ventilation equipment may survive because of it; the child who does not will probably die because of the omission. What would you do? Five tiny hearts flutter desperately […]
Gabriel Scally on the 13th World Congress on Public Health
This is a tough time for public health internationally. The global financial crisis has had a deleterious effect on the social determinants of health as some governments have pursued austerity programmes differentially, which has had the greatest effect on some of the least well off in society. Organisations of public health professionals have suffered as […]
Frank Boulton on the role of medics in preventing torture
“Brits don’t torture….and if they did medics would find out.” This naïve view is widely shared by members of the public and medical professionals alike. The role of some medics as bystanders in torture and the prejudice to asylum seekers and refugees that is rife in Britain today were discussed at a meeting hosted by […]
Frederick Stourton: No miracle diet for athletes
In a quiet house in Soho, where Charles Dickens reputedly wrote “A Tale of Two Cities,” C3 Collaborating for Health hosted a breakfast meeting last week on the importance of nutrition in athletics; a hot topic with the London 2012 games fast approaching. Breakfast reflected the theme, with not a bacon rasher or greasy pastry […]