Why private alternatives to the NHS are so much more expensive
The NHS has survived to the age of 70 and now costs the UK just over £120 billion per annum. Many advanced economies spend even more on healthcare per head of population. Why do fully paid-up capitalist nations persist with this Stalinist approach to... More…
Online GP consultations threaten to create a two-tier healthcare system
GP at Hand is a medical practice in London with a difference. Unlike a traditional practice, eligible patients can register online in three minutes and have a video consultation on their smartphone with a GP within two hours. Great for... More…
Is it still paranoia if they’re really out to vet you? On Clarivate Analytics
As open access has increasingly been mandated, academic publishers have realized that there’s money to be made in tracking our ‘outputs Imagine that you’re out in public when a call of nature of the excretory variety strikes. At this point,... More…
Compulsory coupledom: in sickness and in health?
Recent research has suggested that people who live together, including cohabiting unmarried and married couples, report better health than individuals who have never engaged in such relationships. Perhaps not surprising when we think about the poor health outcomes that can... More…
NHS staff discover they will get hundreds of pounds less than many thought
BREAKING NEWS: UPDATE 20:15, 25th July 2018: The head of the Royal College of Nursing, Janet Davies, has today taken the unprecedented step of writing to members to apologise that staff were given incorrect information about their pay deal voted... More…
The power of a professor: Health Care Provision for ‘deserving’ refugees in Germany
The power of a professor: Health Care Provision for ‘deserving’ refugees in Germany According to article 20 of German basic law, the Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social federal state which implies the provision of social security for everybody... More…
Who really is Matt Hancock?
It was back in September 2013 that we penned a post for Cost of Living entitled “We need to talk about Jeremy”. Way back then we were blissfully unaware of the possibilities of Brexit or Trump. Our major concern was... More…
Digital health divides
Potential health gains from the digital revolution have been widely heralded, if yet to be fully realised. But who are likely to be the biggest winners and losers of this revolution? In this blog, I suggest that to harness the... More…
THE NHS: TO PROVIDE ALL PEOPLE
I offer a very contemporary comment this week, having come across this recent BBC programme for the 70thanniversary of the NHS, by Owen Sheers (poet) and Pip Broughton (director). The programme – ‘The NHS: to provide all people’ was a... More…
Medical Marijuana
The War on Drugs: A New Era? The high profile case of Billy Caldwell, a 12-year-old boy with life-threatening seizures, has again raised questions about the legal status of marijuana. Billy has a form of epilepsy that causes uncontrollable and... More…
Extreme Waxing
The Normalisation of Hair Free Female Bodies Talking to a beautician friend about hair removal and summer beautification regimes led to a discussion about fashions in bikini waxing and hair removal. Interestingly she said she had noticed generational differences in... More…
Is there Justice for Trauma Survivors?