To paraphrase Forrest Gump, writing this blog is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. This Friday the 13th, I get sugar, a bitter sweet topic for someone whose mother has been sucrose-free for a quarter century, whereas I’m more like Forrest, I could eat a million and a […]
John Appleby: The cost of reform
Asked in 1972 whether the French Revolution had been good or bad, the then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said that it was “too early to say.” As it turns out this was not an extreme example of the Chinese long view: Enlai was apparently opining about events that happened four years previously—in 1968—and not that […]
David Kerr: Doctor Google versus the NHS
Apparently one in 20 searches on Google are for health related topics. At the moment typing in a medical condition (such as diabetes) on Google produces links to reputable sites and online patient forums. However, beyond the first page of a Google search, the quality and accuracy of the listed domains becomes more questionable, with searchers […]
Mohammed Bahgat et al: Is the friends and family test a true feedback tool of NHS services?
The NHS friends and family test (FFT) was launched in April 2013 to support the fundamental principle that people who use NHS services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience. [1] The results are submitted to NHS England monthly. When combined with supplementary follow-up questions, the FFT provides a mechanism to highlight […]
The BMJ Today: Childhood drowning outcomes—prevention is key
My Facebook feed was filled with complaints after the National Football League’s Superbowl broadcast last week. The target? A commercial from an insurer highlighting the importance of preventing childhood accidents. While commenters seemed to acknowledge the importance of the topic, they felt that the message was too dark for an event that is otherwise generally […]
Marika Davies: Doctors and death row—should doctors ever take part in executions?
The US Supreme court has put three executions in Oklahoma on hold while it considers a legal challenge to the state’s use of midazolam in its lethal injection protocol. This is likely to reignite the debate about the involvement of doctors in capital punishment, a practice that is prohibited by the American Medical Association, but […]
The BMJ Today: Patient centered care
In May 2013 in The BMJ, a group of patients, clinicians, and editors called for a patient revolution, which would empower patients to “work in partnership . . . [with their doctors to] improve healthcare and challenge deeply ingrained practices and behaviors.” To further foster the revolution, The BMJ has published several articles that put the spotlight on patient […]
Aditya J Nanavati: How do surgeons reflect on surgical complications?
Losing a patient in the operating room is probably every surgeon’s worst nightmare. I recently happened to experience such an event. Not my first and probably not my last. Yet every time it happens it is accompanied by a troubling few hours or days afterwards. I know the operating surgeon of the case that day […]
Pallavi Bradshaw: Are medics increasingly at risk of being criminalised?
However clichéd it may sound, like most medics I wanted to be a doctor to help people. While we strive to do the best for our patients, there will be times when things go wrong. Mistakes happen—no one is infallible. We would all like to think that in the aftermath of an error, we would […]
Karl Swedberg and Inger Ekman on person centred care in Europe
The health systems of the European Union make up a central part of Europe’s social protection. They contribute to social cohesion and social justice as well as to sustainable development. Important values that should underpin all European healthcare have been agreed upon. The overarching values of universality, access to good quality care, equity, and solidarity […]