Secrets and the threat to public health • In an editorial in The BMJ today, Martin McKee and Ronald Labonté write about the European Commission’s proposals to harmonise national legislation on trade secrets, which will shortly be debated in the European parliament. McKee and Labonté say that the proposed extension of secrecy could threaten public […]
Category: The BMJ today
The BMJ Today: From Wakefield to Whitstable, and Yeovil to Harrogate . . .
New models of care • Today, The BMJ carries the news that NHS England has announced 29 geographical sites to spearhead the new models of integrated care espoused in the recent Five Year Forward View. The story includes quotes from NHS England’s chief executive Simon Stevens, who said at the launch, “The NHS now has […]
The BMJ Today: Politics and health, patients and professionals, and stalled drug trials
Here’s your Tuesday roundup: Politics and health • In an analysis article, David Hunter argues that, rather than exclude politics from health, we must embrace it if we are to improve our complex health systems. Political science can, he urges, provide the insights needed to improve policy. “It has the potential to be of immense […]
The BMJ Today: Geekiness, technology, and too few physicians
Inquisitive and geeky • Patrick Vallance, head of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, is the subject of BMJ Confidential. Vallance says that his best career move was choosing to do what interested him rather than what was the “right next job.” It led to clinical pharmacology, research, and the job he has now. His guilty […]
The BMJ Today: Freezing to death, childhood asthma, and TB screening
Here’s your Friday roundup: Cold homes and winter deaths • GPs should identify people living in cold homes and visit them once a year to assess their heating needs, says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The guidance recommends that anyone whose health and wellbeing are at risk because of a cold home […]
The BMJ Today: Cannabis, childhood depression, and winter pressures
Editorial: High potency cannabis In this editorial, Wayne Hall and Louise Degenhardt’s editorial discuss the recent research article published in Lancet Psychiatry that found daily use of “skunk” (a highly potent form of cannabis) is a contributory cause of schizophrenia. After exploring the key limitations of the research, they conclude that “the remarkable consistency of […]
BMJ Today: Overdetecting AAA and breast cancer, and how much do people care?
Overdiagnosis in screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm Johansson and colleagues discuss the assumptions and evidence behind such screening programmes, and call for a revisit of these programmes “because of reduced benefits in modern populations and because data suggest considerable harm.” […]
The BMJ Today: Mortality rates, umbilical clamping, and penis length
Clinical review • Assessment and management of dementia Professor Helen C Kales and colleagues present a State of the Art Review on the assessment and management of dementia and introduce the DICE approach. Research • Quality and Outcomes Framework scores Kontopantelis et al. publish a longitudinal spatial study on the relationship between the UK national primary care pay-for-performance […]
The BMJ Today: The NHS, freedom to smoke, statistical refreshment, and the etymology of coughing
New today on thebmj.com What should the NHS look like after the election? The views of an eminent group of clinicians, policymakers, managers, and others can be heard in a recording of The BMJ breakfast roundtable, held at the Nuffield Trust’s annual health policy summit. Leading their wish list for policies after the election are […]
The BMJ Today: Cloned GPs, MDR TB, and more after Savile
Here is a taste of what’s new on thebmj.com today. If I ruled the NHS • We need drones, robots, and autonomous ambulances In our new series, Mary Church, a Glasgow GP, would turn to technology to solve the NHS’s problems. “The current technology used in out of hours services—a human with a certificate gained after […]