JAMA 21 Dec 2011 Vol 306 2567 Amongst all the awful things that can befall human beings, poor sleep seems but a trivial inconvenience. Well, maybe: it merely doubles one’s risk of cardiovascular events and depression, and leads to undesirable effects on everyone around. In this survey of nearly 5,000 US police officers, 40% were […]
“BMJ covers get everywhere” is a new blog we have launched featuring humorous photos of BMJ covers sent in by our readers. Please submit your photos to JDobson@bmj.com, or send a twitpic to @bmj_latest. Look at the blog at bmj.com/blogs Excessive crying in infants Photo taken by @mellojonny […]
It takes vision, passion for healthcare, compassion for those who suffer, knowledge, a dedicated team of experts, commitment from all stakeholders, and experience of what it means to be a patient to plan a new strategy for the healthcare sector. These are all missing from what the Greek Ministry of Health has done for the […]
The report of the national audit of dementia care in general hospitals 2011, published last week, has put a sharp and timely focus on the care of people with dementia in hospitals and the need for improvements in the physical environment of care. A ward at King’s College Hospital, refurbished as part of The King’s […]
An apple farmer in Conservative MP Laura Sandy’s Kent constituency gets just £80 a tonne for bruised and mis-shapen fruit rejected by the supermarkets. When she visits local schools and asks how many children are planning a career in food science and production, teaching staff say they don’t want them picking beans out in the […]
What have marketing public health messages and marketing for alcohol and fast food corporations, such as KFC and Diageo got in common? The answer in the UK is Freud PR— a “strategic marketing and communications consultancy for consumer brands, public sector bodies and global corporations.” The £1million a year contract from the Department of Health […]
One story has dominated my first year as news reporter for BMJ Careers: pensions. And what a compelling story it has been. The issue kicked off way back in March this year when Lord Hutton set out a raft of changes to public sector pensions, which included ending final salary schemes in favour of career […]
This week I have had the pleasure of attending a workshop in Honolulu with the centre for excellence for disaster management and humanitarian assistance (CoE-DMHA). The CoE is interested in thinking about resiliency and support for relief and rebuilding from a multi-lateral perspective. With its partners from the Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories, the CoE is […]
“We need to think about networks and define if they are commissioner or provider led.” I heard this said a few weeks ago. I also heard it said 3 years ago. I think the first time I heard it said was well over 10 years ago. Creating a taxonomy for networks seems to be a […]
Opening up NHS data to all will bring jobs, economic growth, innovation, a better health service, reduced health costs, and a new age in science. That was the heady message heard by a long dinner table of the good and the great in the House of Commons last week. Most of them seemed to be […]