This season’s hot topic is urgent care, particularly in relation to primary and community based care. Before we get carried away with patchwork top down answers, we need to make sure that changes come from genuine “clinical leadership.” Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are best placed to make this happen. To achieve the transformative change that […]
Soumyadeep Bhaumik’s review of Indian medical papers—18 June 2013
One of the most enthralling articles that caught my attention last month was one entitled “Knowledge and practice of clinical ethics among healthcare providers in a government hospital, Chennai” published in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. It revealed that 30% of the responders did not give a definition of healthcare ethics (and I am […]
Sean Roche: Wake up and smell the coffee (or the essential non-being of the Francis report)
I couldn’t be more serious in beginning to reflect on the Francis report with a joke. The joke is employed by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek in his illustration of ideology, quoting from the director Ernst Lubitsch’s film Ninotchka. In this film, the hero visits a cafeteria and orders coffee without cream; the waiter replies: “I’m sorry, […]
Fran Baum on the final day of the WHO global health meeting
Fran Baum is blogging from the 8th World Health Organization Global Health meeting. Read her other blogs here. The morning session of the final day of the WHO 8th global health meeting (8GCHP) had many contributions looking to the future. Heidi Hautala, minister for internal development, Finland, spoke of the importance of woman in development, […]
Georgios Lyratzopoulos on the revolution in cancer data
Success in reducing mortality from cardiovascular disease combined with improvements in cancer survival mean that the number of people at risk of being diagnosed, or living with cancer, is increasing. In a few years, half of all Britons will be likely to be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their life. By 2040 a […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—17 June 2013
JAMA 12 June 2013 Vol 309 2345 “Moral panic” is a term which dates back to the 1830s and describes “an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order.” Just now the Chief Medical Officer for England is putting her weight behind a campaign of moral panic […]
Desmond O’Neill: Optimal ageing and the midnight sun
Helsinki in summer is a delight, its streetscapes of Russian influenced architecture illuminated and lifted by the interplay of the midnight sun and the ever present sea. The occasion was the triennial joint congress of five Finnish societies for research in ageing, a vibrant meeting of over 800 scientists, researchers, and clinicians. Once again, I […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Unintended misconduct identified in research
Two recent stories provoked a fascinating discussion on misconduct in research—that have nothing to do with the authors, and in the most unlikely of journals. The May 15th edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology explored these two cases in detail. There was no suggestion of research misconduct by the authors, but these controversies introduce […]
Fran Baum on Finland’s primary healthcare system
Fran Baum is blogging from the 8th World Health Organization Global Health meeting. Read her other blogs here. Yesterday was “Europe Day” and the impact of the financial crisis in Europe was at the forefront of people’s minds. Many talked of its health impact and especially the devastating impact of high unemployment. Zsuzsanna Jakab, World […]
Fran Baum: How can governments globally get “Big Food” to change its addiction to sugar and fat?
Fran Baum is blogging from the 8th World Health Organization Global Health meeting. Read her other blogs here. It was good to hear Pekka Puska present Finland’s health promotion success which has resulted in an 80% reduction in cardiovascular disease over 30 years. He stressed that this has been a long term complex process. The […]