“My parents called the police and had me sectioned. I thought: ‘I’m going to paint.’” David is a participant in “Thou Art,” a project which explores the effects of community-based art therapies on the wellbeing of mental health patients. Led by Olivia Sagan of the University of the Arts London, the project is a collaboration with […]
Andrew Burd on 21st century catches
A few weeks ago I received a parcel in the post. I unwrapped it with care and found it was a book. A very interesting book actually, entitled Oculoplasty – Innovative Simpler Techniques. This book can be found on Amazon. It was written by an internet friend, Hemant Mehta. I have never actually met Hemant […]
A blog from a Shia doctor in Bahrain
When I went to the court room for a pre-trial hearing I was shocked by the state of the detained doctors. All of them looked the same. They were in filthy clothes, and some came to the trial in pyjamas. (During the trial, the judge said that they should be able to call their relatives […]
Guy Rughani: New hospital gallery honours Britain’s first female doctor
Tasteful up-lighting, shiny touch screens, and slick videos are what we now expect of the modern museum. Actually, they’re not museums any more – that’s far too stuffy. They’re “galleries.” With this in mind, London’s latest medical attraction doesn’t disappoint. The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Gallery at UNISON’s new headquarters opened last week (Dr Anderson’s 175th birthday) to […]
Sandra Lako: Why do children come to the hospital so late?
One night, not too long ago, four children died in the emergency room at the Children’s Hospital. Two of them had been sick for more than two weeks before coming to the hospital for treatment, and sadly both children died within a few hours of admission. They had simply come too late. Day after day […]
Richard Smith: Prevention of diabetes – from impossible to widely available in 30 years
In the 1980s it was conventional wisdom that type 2 diabetes couldn’t be prevented, said Michael Engelgau of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when I chatted to him in Changzhi, China last week. The condition was treatable but not preventable. Dr Engelgau went onto to tell me about the thinking that led […]
Muir Gray: Ann McPherson – trilingual clinician
The obituary by Charles Warlow of Ann McPherson showed that she was not only a bilingual but a trilingual clinician, and we have to ensure that her example will stimulate others to follow her leadership and use their experience as patients or carers to change health services for the better. […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 13 June 2011
JAMA 8 June 2011 Vol 305 2295 Ovarian cancer almost always presents too late for a cure, so screening asymptomatic women must offer our best chance of reducing its high mortality. In this ground breaking study, 78 216 women were randomised to usual care or to have CA-125 measurements every year for 6 years and […]
Yasir Hameed: The worsening humanitarian crisis in Taiz, Yemen
The clashes have been continuing on the outskirts of Taiz city. This report from the Yemen Post says that on the 8 June pro government gunmen broke into Al Thawra Hospital (the second main public hospital in Taiz, the first is Al Jumhory Hospital). The gunmen set up their positions in Al Thawra hospital from which to […]
Martin McShane: Director’s cut
I picked up a book recently co-authored by Colin Price, the essence of which can be found in this slide deck. One of the key points made is that if you are trying to transform the way you do things it is really important to have a clear narrative, a story which people can connect […]