We are now constantly discussing the transition process and the programme of work we have mapped, which we need to follow to deliver the structural changes demanded by the reforms. This sits alongside the planning process, with the plan for 2012/13 shuttling back and forth between the SHA, PCT cluster, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), various […]
Tony Waterston: The Artist wins in Moscow too
On the night that a silent movie won best film award at the Oscars I felt transported back to the very same era in Moscow. Stalinesque buildings, elegant cathedral-like metro system, and fur coats to keep off the bitter cold. But at the national paediatric meeting attended by 3000 from across this huge country, the […]
Richard Smith: 10 tips on using and enjoying social media
Tomorrow I’m running a workshop for medical students at Imperial College London on medical journalism, and I thought it essential to include something on using and enjoying social media. I imagined that I would find dozens of guides on the web, but to my surprise I couldn’t find anything satisfactory. And much of what I […]
Douglas Noble and Dianna Smith on historical health inequalities
This month we published a report on risk of type two diabetes in East London, with an accompanying paper in BMJ Open, and underpinned by a previous systematic review in BMJ. We took a risk scoring algorithm, the QDScore, and used it on just over half a million electronic records to identify high risk groups. […]
Susannah Baron: On national strikes and difficult dermatology
You probably have not heard about the Tanzanian health strike, which has had a major impact on healthcare in the country recently. The strike, as far as I could gather was about pay. It seems that the new interns had not been paid for their first 3 months work and the government were also wishing […]
Laura Woolfenden: Here comes good health
The 1920s and 1930s was an era of social and political revolution, and a switch of attitude on public health was indicative of the changing approach to public policy. The Wellcome Collection currently has an exhibition of cinematic work released by Bermondsey Borough Council’s public health department, which showcases the changed ideology on health provision […]
Richard Vize on the commission on dignity in care for older people
The consultation document published today by the Commission on Dignity in Care for Older People has powerful messages about the role of hospital doctors and the training of doctors and medical students. The commission, a joint enterprise by the NHS Confederation, Age UK and Local Government Association, was established in the wake of investigations by […]
Harriet Vickers: David Hockney’s crusade against tobacco regulation
David Hockney’s one-man crusade against tobacco regulation has struck again. Fresh off the back of critical acclaim for his use of an iPad to capture the Yorkshire landscape, he’s used his new artistic tool to create an image protesting against the “anti-smoking fanatics,” and the Guardian have put it on their home page. […]
John Gabbay: “We’ll never re-elect you if you wreck our NHS”
So why would a retired professor of public health decide to write a protest song, get his kids to help him record it, his wife to help him with the graphics, and take his first plunge into the dangerous world of YouTube? Isn’t this the fellow that usually writes dusty academic works about evidence-based practice? […]
Peter Bailey: Hot frogs jump
Biology A level classes in the 1970s often involved frogs making the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of their dissector’s knowledge of what lies beneath the amphibian skin. As far as I remember, it was not however common practice to test the widely-held belief that a frog in a water bath would tolerate a slowly […]