I was sad to hear that support services for new mothers are going to be cut across England. The Guardian reports that breastfeeding classes, home visits from midwives, and “babyfeeding cafes”—where mothers can drop in and talk to feeding advisers as well as other parents—are increasingly being scaled back or cut owing to pressures on […]
Tag: NHS
Martin Marshall: The travesty of the 10 minute consultation
“Perfunctory work by perfunctory men.” That’s how an eminent physician once described general practice. “A ridiculous claim” cried GPs, rising to the defence of their discipline, “specialists just don’t understand the nature of general practice. They don’t value our ability to make quick decisions based on a deep understanding of our patients and their context, […]
David Eedy: What lessons can be learned from the collapse of dermatology services in Nottingham?
The independent investigation into the near collapse of the acute and paediatric dermatology service in Nottingham has called the process an “unmitigated disaster.” This collapse was foreseeable and avoidable, and in the aftermath of the report it is important that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), trusts, and private providers nationally take on-board what went wrong to […]
Marge Berer: Jeremy Hunt supports 12 week limit for abortion
At the Labour conference last week, Andy Burnham accused Jeremy Hunt of failing to make any statements about important current health service issues in parliament since he became health secretary. What a pity he decided to speak up last week, because now we know just how uninformed he is. Hunt said he favoured reducing the […]
Peter Bailey: Own up and ask for help
When I was twelve, I had a splendid bicycle. I cleaned and oiled and polished it. I looked for ways to improve it. One day, I thought I would take the Sturmey Archer three speed gear hub apart to oil it and make it work better, faster, and more smoothly for less effort. I knew […]
NHS pension strike—we are preparing to make a stand
We are planning to take industrial action at our GP surgery. We’re unanimous about the blatant inequity being thrust down our throats by Mr Lansley and the anger we feel is palpable. We weren’t completely in agreement about what we’d be prepared to do about it—but when the date was announced, we realised that the […]
Martin McShane: Win, win, win?
In the last week, I have managed to catch up with two old friends who are the sort of GPs who I would be delighted to look after me or my family. As I listened to them both, I empathised with the pressures general practitioners face. On top of the burden of more and more […]
Richard Smith: Are we too concerned with confidentiality? A fable
I am the chief medical officer of our family. I am the bridge between my family members, some of them eccentric and one of them demented, and an unforgiving health system. Many doctors—indeed, anybody familiar with the strange language and rigidities of health systems—fulfil the same role, and it gives us some useful bottom up […]
Martin McShane: 80:20
We are working through trying to understand exactly how commissioning support (CSS) will work with Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). At a recent time out the lead manager for the CSS presented on the progress being made with Greater East Midlands CSS (GEM). They highlighted the scale of work that is required with the 277 tasks […]
Mike Knapton and Tom Pierce: Doctors should take a leading role in tackling climate change
The recent Cambridge University Leadership Programme looked at sustainable development in health services worldwide. It was an opportunity to hear the evidence and arguments which were both persuasive and alarming. The link between population growth and our reliance on a carbon-based economy, leading to rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and the consequent changes […]