After all the formalities, the potential bride’s father asks, “How much?” The father of the groom-to-be lets out a crooked smile and says “Two million rupees”. The bride’s father is tensed. He tries to negotiate. The bargaining goes on and finally a price is agreed between the two and the wedding is fixed. This is […]
Tony Delamothe: Chekhov and the doctors
Chekhov published his first short story as a 20 year old medical student. Over the next 24 years, he published nearly 600 more, along with a string of plays including The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. He worked as a doctor until he could support himself from his writing, finally abandoning […]
Joe Collier: Cancer survival and icy weather
Over the Christmas period the UK had its snowiest, iciest winter in years. It brought with it the obvious medical problems: deaths from hypothermia, breaks and strains and other injuries from falls and accidents, and the disruption caused by hospital closures. It will also have caused countless patients to miss their appointments for starting chemotherapy […]
Douglas Noble on medication safety
A recent review of medication safety revealed a 9% error rate, of which 50% were significant and 2% potentially fatal. Just think of the significance of that for a moment, perhaps between amending drug charts – for every 500 drug orders written by a doctor, 1 patient could die as a result. […]
Emily Spry on thoughts of maintenance in Sierra Leone
“We don’t have thoughts of maintenance here in Sierra Leone. Few people have any idea of that. If you look at the cars driving around, you can see. I wonder how they are able to register them. Yes, you have to adjust your expectations in Sierra Leone, otherwise you can become depressed.” These wise words […]
David Kerr: Healthcare reform depends on senate race which is too close to call
Massachusetts voters go to the polls today to elect the late Ted Kennedy’s senate replacement. They also hold the fate of Obama’s healthcare reform programme in their hands. From a 30 point lead in the polls Democratic candidate Martha Coakley’s ratings have plummeted. Recent polls have put Republican candidate Scott Brown ahead. […]
Vidhya Alakeson on the two US healthcare reform bills
As world events have come to dominate the news in America, health reform appears to have slipped from the front page. But in the backrooms of Capitol Hill and the White House, discussions are as furious as ever. On Christmas Eve, the Senate passed a healthcare reform bill, just as the House of Representatives had […]
Richard Smith: what use are memory clinics?
The government’s dementia strategy, which promises a memory clinic on every corner rather than a chicken in every pot, is not working. That’s not surprising as it’s the easiest thing in the world to come up with grand sounding strategies but one of the hardest to get them implemented. As the economist Alan Maynard says, […]
Hugh Ip: Reverse culture shock
I got out of the lift on the sixth floor of S block. I asked a nurse in Cantonese, “is this the respiratory medicine clinic?” “That’s right; you’re an overseas elective student aren’t you?” “Yes.” “Sit here and wait for the doctor.” […]
Emily Spry: Free healthcare for Under 5s in Sierra Leone
It’s a new year at the Children’s Hospital and everyone is cheerful. The figures from the last months of 2009 suggest that inpatient mortality has decreased substantially, compared to the equivalent period in 2008. We are also more popular; the number of inpatient admissions has tripled over the past six months. The Children’s Hospital is […]