I often see articles, posters, and advertisements stating that early diagnosis of cancer “saves lives.” An implication that general practitioners are not “doing enough” or that people “ignore symptoms” usually follows. GPs are now encouraged to investigate if there is a “3% or more cancer risk.” Does this way of talking about cancer actually make […]
In 2011 the United Nations held a high level meeting on preventing and controlling non-communicable disease (NCD) and produced a declaration on what countries should do. In 2018 it will hold another meeting to review progress, and unless there is a dramatic acceleration the meeting is likely to conclude that progress has been poor, said […]
I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in the days before the internet, so I had to rely on magazines and newspaper articles as a back-up to the sparse information that my doctor provided. Once I had a computer I enthusiastically joined patient support groups and used those that relied on research papers and information from […]
The current situation represents a failure of political and central NHS leadership, the lack of an effective response represents a failure of duty […]
How reliable is the data collected about detentions under the Mental Health Act? Veena Raleigh looks at the data quality issues and their implications. […]
It’s just over a year ago that an essay called “Tolerating Uncertainty” appeared in the NEJM, headed by a quotation from Keats: “At once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement . . . when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after […]
We need more staff, more acute hospital beds, and more space and facilities in social care […]
The words we use matter and can influence what we think and how we act […]
In the Christmas issue of The BMJ, recently out, you can read about my exploration of nonexistent authors listed in citations in PubMed, a never ending source of general amusement in the form of misattributions and misspellings. I reported three varieties: apparent authors (such as Et Al and Anon), concealing the identities of real contributors; […]
We need to find ways to care for all of those at risk, not just those who have the ability to seek care […]