Antibiotic Resistance. A Dire Emergency on Planet Earth – (fixable if the price is right…)
The issue of ineffective anti-biotics is one driven more by market economics than treatment resistant diseases. A change of spending priorities could change the face of global health, but given the profit margins, this is unlikely to happen.
More…
To Save or Let Die? Doctors’ Dilemmas in the Chinese Health Sector
In May 2014, a Chinese farmer in Anhui Province cut off his own feet when they deteriorated into severe necrosis, causing unbearable pain. In 2012, a peasant in Hebei province amputated his festering leg using a saw and a fruit...
More…
In search of a label
There have long been calls to stop labelling children as having special needs. Department of Education figures released in 2012 show that 19.8% of pupils in England have special educational needs, of which 2.8% have statements of SEN. And yet...
More…
NHS Nu-Speak
This email has been scanned for viruses; however we are unable to accept responsibility for any damage caused by the contents. The opinions expressed in this email represent the views of the sender, not [name removed] NHS Foundation Trust unless...
More…
Mr Drew’s School
The unintended consequences of targeted school interventions ‘Well what did I come down here for? Do you not know? I’m a problem child. I have problems behaving. Is there a part of that you don’t understand?’ Clark, aged 11, Mr...
More…
“crisis, what crisis?”
Recent media stories about an NHS crisis function to divert attention away from the ideologically driven dismantling of a national institution
More…
Statins – making people ill for the common good?
While Public Health zealots trumpet their claim to the moral high ground over statins, it’s still worth asking: “are they right?” Here’s a strange piece of news. This week, two of Britain’s top doctors (Knights of the Realm, no less)...
More…
n of 1,2,3? How many PPI patients is enough?
Patient Public Involvement (PPI) is ubiquitous in healthcare, and it tends to be used as a valuable tool for improving healthcare delivery. But how about questions of what it might do for the patient themselves. This aspect of PPI is...
More…
Healthcare heroes – Raed Arafat (#1 in an occasional series)
Some health ministers are more inspiring than destructive. Jeremy Hunt should take notice
More…
Why do healthy people get into ‘guinea-pigging’?
Human involvement in clinical or medical research is not new, however today levels of human involvement in clinical trials have increased, ironically following the high profile Northwick Park incident in 2006 in which 6 healthy subjects suffered life changing unexpected...
More…
NHS 111 – Improving efficiency or destroying the ‘brand’?
NHS 111 need not necessarily be the calamity it has become. This calamity is driven more by financial under investment than a more pervasive crisis of care.
More…
Statins and their side effects