Gallery
What we Have Seen Oxfordshire CC shut this road off for several nights and spent a shed load of money, making road “bike-friendly” in response to COVID. Result: a road marking system that is confusing for drivers and cyclists and... More…
Support workers as invisible healthcare providers
Book Review: Support Workers and the Health Professions an International Perspective, the invisible providers of healthcare A support worker is: ‘a worker who provides face-to-face care or support of a personal or confidential nature to patients and/or service users in... More…
COVID Misinformation
Tech companies are removing ‘harmful’ coronavirus content – but who decides what that means? The “infodemic” of misinformation about coronavirus has made it difficult to distinguish accurate information from false and misleading advice. The major technology companies have responded to... More…
Undermining public law is no way to protect public health
Safeguards on everything from procurement to notifiable diseases, health inspections to freedom of information, are being suspended at a time when accountability is more important than ever. The long dark shadow cast by Coronavirus has provided cover for the demise... More…
Gallery
what we have seen In other countries, it’s the govt that supplies free compulsory face masks. Not in good old Blighty, £5 to ensure compliance Rules for keeping the pub open during pandemic times. COVID crazy golf. “Oh, I do... More…
Face-mask wearing and public health messaging
‘I was in the Co-op and I heard a child ask his father if he could have a face mask like mine. The father replied, ‘no, don’t be so soft, we’re not doing that!’ There has recently been a major... More…
Critique, culture and crisis
Who needs critical social science in a crisis? For those working overtime to save lives and keep society going in extremis, critical scrutiny and debate appear as unhelpful carping from the sidelines. This was implied recently by one leading researcher,... More…
Gallery
What we have seen this week There are so many things wrong with these HM Government adverts, but even in their own terms, will they persuade even a one person to change their behaviour. Just more crap PR and slogans. ... More…
Who Killed my Father - Review
A pointed reflection on class injustice and toxic masculinity from the young French author of ‘The End of Eddy’ It is more common for novels and memoirs (of which this book is both) to be more interested in psychological than... More…
Gallery
What we have seen this week Who will miss the deserted streets after the end of lockdown? Distancing advice at the lakeside: the length of a sunbed A new beer inspired by the coward/liars Johnson and Cummings First pub visit... More…
Life Interrupted: COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter
I was recently one of three middle-aged students to attend an outdoors, socially distanced yoga class in the countryside near my home in Somerset. We set out our mats and before the class started, the teacher, a white woman, asked... More…
Intersectional Discrimination: COVID-19, Racism and Speciesism