Wimbledon is over (well done Andy Murray), but London still has a wealth of other treats to offer. A trip to the Science Museum, for example, where the Beyond the Lab exhibition is well worth a visit. It showcases nine “citizen science innovators,” selected to illustrate how people working alone in their own homes, can […]
Category: Patient perspectives
Angela Coulter: At last some better news on shared decision making
Shared decision making has now entered common parlance. Everyone seems to be talking about it and the term pops up frequently in report after report. But we can’t assume it’s fully embedded in mainstream clinical practice just because it’s talked about a lot. On the contrary. A recent review from the Care Quality Commission found […]
Matthias Wienold: How an online patient group proved its value to me
Around the world patient groups in social networks are growing and even becoming of interest to researchers. So, when I got diagnosed with cluster headache (CH) syndrome I gave it a try. CH is not the typical self-help group disorder. It is rare and only occurs in bouts for most patients. When attacked, I don’t […]
Edward Wernick and Steve Manley: Meaningful patient collaboration—the end of the beginning . . .
The delay between this blog and the last one in November on the new King’s Fund Collaborative Pairs Programme reflects the level of work that we have been dealing with over the past few months. We write this after our final session on the Collaborative Pairs course at the King’s Fund headquarters in Cavendish Square. We have written before […]
Julie Wood: Yoga and asthma
I am not at all surprised that new Cochrane evidence showed yoga may be beneficial to those with asthma. I am a devoted yogi who has practised a combination of hot power and bikram yoga about twice a week for the past two years. In my early 20s I decided to take up running and noticed […]
Matthias Wienold: Drug regulation—a patient’s view
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) guards access of new drugs to the health markets of the EU member states. It was founded over 20 years ago to combine the best of knowledge from all national agencies and to respond to the need to speed up the evaluatory process, which in some countries could take more […]
Joseph O’Keeffe: The junior doctors’ strike—voices from the ward
Junior doctors are arguing that the contract changes compromise patient safety. I agree. But do those we treat? It’s hard to tell. Social media appears dominated by the junior doctors, whereas the newspapers and the broadcasters merely present a succession of politicians and “experts.” The patient’s voice seems lost amidst the acrimony between the Department […]
Paul Hodgkin: The dogs that don’t bark are the most difficult to hear
For at least the last 70 years patients have been regularly gathered in crowded outpatient clinics and left to sit in silence. Decade after decade, country after country, health systems around the world have ignored the massive potential for patients to learn from each other. Forget the rhetoric about listening and engaging patients. Just look […]
Suzanne Gordon on the difficult patient
Today it’s hard to find a healthcare professional who doesn’t want to “put the patient first,” practise “patient centered care,” or make the patient “part” or even “the centre” of the healthcare team. When you discuss any potential or actual bureaucratic, governmental, insurance company, or even internet interference in clinical practice, clinicians complain that non-healthcare professionals […]
Andrew Guest: Pots from pills
I began making ceramics just over ten years ago, as a counterpart to my main career promoting and creating opportunities for artists and architects. I quickly discovered the allure of casting clay in plaster moulds; first, the precision with which liquid plaster sets to a clean white negative shape, and then the way in which […]