Welcome to a series of blogs on sustainable healthcare that will look at health, sustainability, and the interplay between the two. The blog will share ideas from experts across the healthcare field, some of whom are speaking at a major European conference looking at Pathways to Sustainable Healthcare in September 2013. More about the conference […]
Sandeep Kumar Panigrahi: Do we need to look into the bottle necks of maternal and newborn health interventions?
The second Bottle Neck Analysis (BNA) workshop for maternal and newborn health interventions was held in Hyderabad on 6 and 7 of August 2013. It was conducted by the National Rural Health Mission, Andhra Pradesh, and supported by the Department of Health, Medical, and Family Welfare (government of Andhra Pradesh), and the UNICEF field office […]
Julien Potet: How access to life saving antisera is dwindling fast, and what to do about it
What do snakebites, tetanus, and rabies have in common? Answer: Treating patients with these life threatening conditions relies on antisera, a class of immunoglobulin-rich products derived from the plasma of human volunteers or animals and used for passive immunization after suspected exposure (to tetanus or rabies), or for antivenom activity following snakebites. Each year about […]
Richard Cook: Twitter, doctors, and rules
Ever get frustrated during a consultation? How should doctors deal with that? The patient comes first of course—we, as doctors, know that and have that mantra at the centre of how we work. What if, just if, the doctor came first? How would a consultation look? If you could draw up a list of how […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—27 August 2013
NEJM 22 Aug 2013 Vol 369 699 Vedolizumab. What a name for an important new drug. Just remember the vedo bit and the fact that it’s a monoclonal antibody, and you might be able to recall the full name. Vedo is the new kid on the block for inflammatory bowel disease. “Hi new kid,” say […]
Sylviane Gindrat: “At the Doctor’s Side”—a trilogy of documentary films
I presented my documentary trilogy “At the Doctor’s Side” about family doctors in Switzerland at the Wonca World conference 2013 in Prague. Each film portrays two protagonists. In the first film, “Gabi & Bruno,” Gabi is an enthusiastic young doctor undertaking her vocational training. Bruno is an experienced family doctor in an independent one doctor […]
Mike Hobday: Understanding our growing cancer population
All areas of healthcare are rich in data, some more so than others. Take intensive care. As patients are constantly monitored; the intensive care unit (ICU) is one of the most data intense areas of a hospital. But data alone are no good. We need to translate them, firstly into information and then into insight, […]
Marcus Grant: Radical transformation or bust
Welcome to a series of blogs on sustainable healthcare that will look at health, sustainability, and the interplay between the two. The blog will share ideas from experts across the healthcare field, some of whom are speaking at a major European conference looking at Pathways to Sustainable Healthcare in September 2013. More about the conference […]
Tiago Villanueva: Am I happy about leaving Portugal and clinical medicine?
About a month ago, I left my family, friends, and comfort zone in Portugal to take up the job of BMJ editorial registrar at The BMJ‘s editorial office in London. You might think that I’m just another of the many doctors trying to escape the Southern European misery and grim career perspectives. […]
Readers’ editor: Homophobia and the BMJ
In December 2012 Doug Kamerow asked in his regular BMJ column if gay marriage improves health. Eight months later the article attracted its first response. Gregory Gardner, a GP in the West Midlands, wanted to know why Kamerow had not mentioned the impact of same sex marriage on the health and wellbeing of children. Dr Gardner’s […]