Making a virtue of variation? The fragmentation of the English NHS
Geographic reform of the NHS is not new: region, district, area, and locality are all familiar terms in NHS history, and notions of “place” as an organising principle retain an intrinsic appeal for policy-makers. Recently, the English NHS has now...
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The Doctors’ Trial: 70 years on from the Nuremberg Code
While many of us, on occasion complain about having to get ethical approval, it is important to be aware of the history behind these obligations. This is especially true with the recent resurgence of the far-right and Neo-Nazis leading to...
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A Shared Love for the Beautiful Game
Sitting in the stands last Sunday watching Brighton and Hove Albion take on Everton there was a palpable energy in the air. From the cheers and chants for home players to the booing of opposing players and officials, the atmosphere...
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What to do about our toxic universities?
“My senior management seems to live in a governance free zone. One in particular who joined with the new VC has developed a reputation for turning disagreements into sacking”. UK University Employee Anyone who takes more than a passing interest...
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The Gradual Rehabilitation of Salt
The Public Health campaign against salt seems to be losing ground – for some sociologically interesting reasons. It’s become one of those facts that everyone knows – too much salt is bad for you, right? But a complete lack of...
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The “snowflake generation”
Dangerous myths in precarious times You might have seen headlines about the “snowflake generation” or “generation snowflake”: a derogatory term to describe young adults in the 2010’s. It was made one of the “words of the year” in 2016 by...
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The panel will see you now: GP Referral Management Schemes
Currently over 4 million people are on NHS waiting lists, hospital trusts’ deficits are at record levels, and the patient promise of treatment within 18 weeks of referral has been abandoned. For NHS England, the incentive to “do something” about...
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On Vincent & Nina: Images of genius & madness
Over the summer I visited the Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Given my grasp of Dutch is somewhat limited, I hired the audio-tour so I could better appraise myself of the exhibits. As I wandered around I was struck...
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Guidelines for Depression: More Gourmet Nights from NICE
Could it really still be Gourmet Night for Psychological Therapies? I have written previously comparing IAPT to Fawlty Towers’ Gourmet Night, in which a series of events led to the hotel restaurant offering three options on the menu: duck with...
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Why the NHS needs an immigration policy with strict hypocrisy controls
How did the UK come to find itself facing a major political crisis with the prospect of expending the forseeable future redefining its relationship with the European Union? One of the key contributing factors is that political leaders allowed the issue...
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Placebo, participation and surgery
A therapeutic effect that cannot be attributed to an active ingredient of medication is termed ‘placebo’. The ‘placebo effect’ is far from a neutral description of the effect of ‘inert drugs’, being associated with the quackery and deception of sugar...
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When should we worry? Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)