In the next few days, Junior Hospital Doctors (JHDs) will be asked to vote either for or against industrial action. It is a situation that they will not have encountered previously, indeed one that some will wish they didn’t have to face. They have many factors to consider when casting their vote and will no […]
Category: NHS
Edward Wernick and Steve Manley: Meaningful patient collaboration—the story continues…
In our last blog we introduced our roles on the new King’s Fund Collaborative Pairs Programme. With the support of the King’s Fund we are working on a shared challenge facing our local health system. North East Hampshire and Farnham CCG have recently been awarded Vanguard status and co-production is a crucial element for the […]
Helena Lee: Is it ethical for doctors to strike—why I say #yesyes
Today the BMA is sending out ballot papers for industrial action in light of the proposed junior doctors’ contract. It is the first time in recent years that junior doctors have found themselves in this situation. A recent poll on thebmj.com asked “Is it ethical for doctors to strike?” 67% voted yes, out of a total of 1573 […]
Mary McCarthy: Would fewer than 25 consultations a day be a safer model for GPs?
I conducted a survey* earlier this year that looked at the workloads of doctors in family practice from 25 EU states (this survey was presented at the 2015 summer meeting of UEMO (the European Union of General Practitioners) and is to be published fully in the British Journal of General Practice). It looked at doctors’ hours of […]
Rebecca Stout: Refugees and their right to access healthcare in the UK
Over the past few months it would be very difficult to have missed the news stories reporting on the Syrian refugee crisis. Civil war has now continued in the country for more than four years and the World Health Organization states that there are currently “12.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, with more than […]
Global Health Curriculum group: A changing world and what it means for medical training
This month the BMA released a report on the need for pre and post-graduate medical education and training to adapt in the face of a rapidly “changing world.” We are pleased to see recognition of the need to update postgraduate competencies. However, as doctors in training who are dedicated to the integration of global health into current […]
Mary E Black: On public health—Roy Lilley gets it wrong
Roy Lilley—blogger, NHS and social care agent provocateur, fettered by none, master of the timely hyperlink, and coiner of deliciously irreverent names for the great and the good. I do chuckle when he refers to Simon Stevens as Tarzan. I read all his blogs—his often acid shots are compelling . . . unless they are […]
Samir Dawlatly: Do I need to be more mindful?
In my relatively short career as a GP there has been a surge of interest in talking therapies for mental health problems. It seems that the “one-size-fits-all” population-based research being shoe-horned and imposed onto every patient in the consultation approach is what is needed and required by our paymasters. The current trend of therapy that […]
Amy Godden: Women in surgery
In the 13 years since embarking on my medical training I have witnessed unbelievable progress in many different aspects of medicine as a whole, not least, within gender equality. I am a female general surgical registrar in North West London. I am married to a recently retired professional rugby player. I have no children…yet. I […]
Henry Murphy: The impact of the junior doctor’s protest march
I couldn’t sleep yesterday morning. Something was wrong. On Saturday I joined 20 000 people marching in protest at the government’s threats to impose a new contract on all doctors below consultant level. Police in riot vans were parked on Parliament Square, and were met with smiling parents, pushchairs, and a lot of stickers. A helicopter circled […]