The Commonwealth Fund’s survey of the experience of adults with complex care needs, published last week, paints a remarkably positive picture of the NHS. The results show that, of the eleven countries surveyed, the number of patients reporting that they did not use services because of concerns about cost was lowest in the United Kingdom. […]
David Pencheon: What is it about large scale change that makes anaesthetists act?
Change may be the new constant, but it is always important to understand who embraces change most readily, and where. Doctors in general are traditionally conservative, as those outside the profession will be only too happy to confirm. We like to think we pioneer change both via behaviour (witness the change in smoking prevalence amongst […]
Desmond O’Neill: Donizetti and the GP
It is almost certainly the most unique operatic experience in Europe. As you walk up a narrow street of terraced houses in a small coastal town in south-eastern Ireland, you enter a modest entrance and are suddenly in the middle of a sophisticated walnut-clad atrium. This in turn leads into a striking marriage of smart […]
Domhnall MacAuley: NAPCRG and the relevance of evidence based medicine
Trisha Greenhalgh (London) was always going to challenge the current paradigm. And, she didn’t disappoint. Her keynote at NAPCRG was elegant, persuasive, and beautifully crafted. Drawing from literature and philosophy she explored aspects of care beyond medicine and, in particular, the limitations of evidence based medicine (EBM). Her first assertion was that we get so […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Climate change, health, and security
On 17 October, I was fortunate to attend a daylong seminar at BMA House on “the health and security perspectives of climate change.” Uniquely, this programme pulled together medical and military professionals along with climatologists, zoologists, and politicians. The morning focused on threats to global climate, health, and security whereas the afternoon sessions focused on […]
Richard Smith: Battling over safe alcohol limits
Advice on smoking is simple: don’t smoke. But what should be the advice on alcohol? It can’t be “don’t drink,” nor can it be “drink less.” Doctors and governments think that they need to give guidance to people on alcohol—and mostly they do that by suggesting “safe limits” based on units of alcohol. But is […]
Vivienne Bachelet: Medical editorial and publishing worlds – are they working together or not in the Chilean outback
I am writing from London and due to get back home in a few days. Home for me is Santiago, Chile, a beautiful place to live in and to visit. My stay in the UK has been extremely fruitful, and it all started on a medical editor’s course held last week in Oxford. You may […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 14 November 2011
JAMA 9 Nov 2011 Vol 306 1983 Replumbing the brain through a hole in the skull is an idea that sounds straight out of the heroic days of kill-or-cure surgery. It’s been known for about 50 years that you can connect the superficial temporal artery branch through the cranium to a middle cerebral artery cortical […]
David Payne: Your feedback about the bmj.com redesign
We’ve redesigned the BMJ website. It went live late on Tuesday evening (UK time), with a prominent feedback button on the homepage asking for comments. We’ve produced a video guide to the new site, and an editorial explaining some of the changes, as well as some FAQs that we will update on an ongoing basis. This […]
Tom Yates: Cancer survival rates are complicated
“Your chances of surviving from cancer, in America, if you are diagnosed with cancer, is better than in the UK.” Mark Littlewood, (Director General of Institute of Economic Affairs), BBC Question Time, 13 October 2011. I was recently an audience member at a recording of BBC Question Time in East London – a deeply frustrating […]