Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
What contrary creatures we humans are. I begin the year convinced that our civilisation will collapse soon but at the same time enjoying the continuous Mozart on Radio 3, abandoning alcohol for the month with enthusiasm, and committing myself to three runs and 70 000 steps a week. As my wife, who also thinks that […]
I spoke as well at the meeting on valuing the humanities at the London School of Economics (see blog below), and I argued that medicine needs the humanities badly. The NHS and overseas aid are the only budgets that have been protected by the coalition government, and universities, particularly the teaching of humanities, have been […]
Having decided that higher education is no longer a public good, the coalition government has cut completely the funding for teaching the humanities. This is a desperately short sighted move, and at a meeting at the London School of Economics just before Christmas speakers spelt out the value of the humanities. Some training in the […]
Last week I had the privilege of speaking to a learning set of six former NHS managers who have kept up their learning for over 20 years. They have done well. One is in the House of Lords, two are regulators, and one has got rich. What could I say to them, I wondered? I […]
How would you like to be part of a television programme provisionally entitled “The town that gave up medicine”? The programme will be made by a company called Films of Record , which has an impressive pedigree, and shown on Channel 4. In some ways this is a programme about medicalisation, but you can imagine […]
Will the Big Society, GP commissioning, and a major reorganisation help or hinder the NHS in making 4% efficiency savings compound over four years? This was the question that kept running through my mind as I listened to a discussion at the King’s Fund on whether the current health reforms amount to “patient power or […]
Between 1991 and 1993 the Finnish economy suffered a deep recession and health and social services were cut by 25%. The result was a fall in mortality. Sweden had the same experience, and both countries thought that the falls in mortality might have been caused by falls in consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Can recessions and […]
After years in obscurity, those of us concerned about chronic disease are about to have our moment in the spotlight—at the United Nations High Level Meeting in New York next September. The last comparable meeting was on AIDS in 2001 and led to the Global Fund. Next year’s meeting is described as a “once in a […]
Far too few people Tweet. I’ve just been teaching a class on getting published in Buenos Aires, and only one of 60 researchers Tweeted. “Writing and publishing the paper,” I say, “is the easy part. Getting an audience is the hard part, and Tweeting can help, especially if like Ben Goldacre, you can accumulate 50 […]
As I arrived in Salzburg at Schloss Leopoldskron, globally prominent because of is role in the “Sound of Music,” I wondered if it would be possible for people from 29 countries, ranging from Uganda to the USA, to hold mutually useful conversations on health system reform. In particular, would a hard boiled, cynical, globe trotting […]