We are now three weeks into our new design and this is my third blog to update you on what feedback we have had and how we are responding to it. Within minutes of the new bmj.com launching on 8 November someone tweeted that it didn’t look great on mobile phones. How right they were. […]
Richard Smith: The happiness questionnaire
My son, a chef, is part of a “pop up think tank” of people under 35 working on happiness. They are gathering evidence through a questionnaire, and I thought that some BMJ readers might be interested in both the questions and my answers. You might like to try answering the questions yourself. […]
Helen Macdonald: Dangerous weekends – more complicated than just a lack of consultants
Why are patients in English hospitals more likely to die at the weekend? A good question, put to Dr Mark Porter, head of the BMA’s consultants’ committee by John Humphrys on the Today programme on Radio 4 yesterday morning. It was a difficult question for him to answer in a couple of sound bites. The […]
David Buck: Obesity and public health – a taxing issue
Obesity, and its control, is high on the public health agenda. Recently the Lancet published a series of important papers on the science and social science of obesity and its prevention. According to conservative estimates the projected obesity trends in the UK to 2030 imply 5,450,000 new cases of diabetes, 330,000 cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, […]
Edward Davies: Something fishy at the GMC…
Do you ever feel like somebody is softening you up for some bad news? When I was 18, I was caught speeding in my dad’s car. I’m not proud of it but there was a 19 year old girl in the passenger seat so I hope you understand. Wondering how to broach the subject of needing […]
Martin McShane: Integrated reflections concluded
Here is my third and final blog on the USA trip: After Seattle’s integrated care organisations, we visited CalPERS. They fund $6.7bn worth of healthcare for 1.3 million people (roughly twice what we have per person in Lincolnshire). They see themselves as “active” purchasers: managing the market to reduce costs. About two thirds of their members […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 28 November 2011
JAMA 23/30 Nov 2011 Vol 306 2221 “There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man,” intones Rod Serling in accents strange, “…we call it The Twilight Zone.” Fans of the 1950 series will enjoy this week’s episode, where a bewildered reviewer finds himself in a parallel universe where he is doomed […]
Johnny Meldrum: The role of health professionals in UN climate change negotiations
As a medical student with the incredible opportunity to represent the voice of health at the UN climate talks in Durban (COP17), the day before my departure I was confronted with the following headline on the front-page of The Guardian: “Rich nations ‘give up’ on new climate treaty until 2020” […]
Research highlights – 25 November 2011
” “Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research papers and accompanying articles. Does a high intake of dietary fibre or whole grains reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer? Does integrated care […]
Kailash Chand: An e-petition for the NHS
This NHS Health and Social Care bill is radically different to any health legislation since the inception of the NHS. It removes the health secretary’s duty to provide or secure the provision of universal healthcare to the general population, and puts in place the legal framework for a commercial system in which the NHS is reduced […]