Is the NHS really suffering a crisis of compassion?
When Robert Francis published his report on the ‘systemic failings’ identified in Mid-Staffordshire in 2013 the report was a damning indictment of management practices and unsafe staffing policies. But is also raised concerns about a lack of compassion on the...
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Going Private
Should we worry about the rise of fee-for-service general practice? Paying for GP services is back in the news. New models of private health care are being launched, and commentators are calling for NHS patients to make co-payments to visit...
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Room for improvement?
A couple of weeks ago Sasha Scambler wrote on this blog about public health interest in digital devices and the launch of a free ‘sugar app’ in the UK in time for the season of new resolutions. The app uses...
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Same difference? – From Northwick Park in 2006 to Rennes in 2016
As someone who has researched healthy volunteer involvement in clinical trials I was disturbed by the events in Rennes, France last week, where after taking part in a clinical trial, a healthy volunteer died and 4 others were left in...
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“APPY” NEW YEAR: self-surveillance, big brother and the worried well
I got a new watch for Christmas. It tells me how far I walk each day, how many calories I burn off through movement and it reminds me to stand up and move around every hour. It rewards me when...
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Public Protest and Debate: Katie Hopkins and the Welfare State
On November 23rd 2015 my mind was concentrated on the politics of health and the welfare state in a way that I had not anticipated, raising issues that I now realize I had never adequately thought through before. Brunel University...
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Highlights of 2015
Dear Readers, Thanks for reading our posts and for following us on twitter. Also thanks to the many guest authors who have blogged for us over the last year. We hope you all have a merry break over Christmas and...
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You and Your Genetics
You are distinctly Neanderthal, you have an elevated risk of getting colon cancer, and quite possibly your Dad is not your Dad….“Happy Christmas!” One of the stranger xmas present suggestions that I have run into this season is a through-the-post,...
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Watching the Detectives: Epigenetics and Ethics
Detective fiction routinely uses DNA technology as a plot device. So much so that that the “CSI effect” has been blamed for distorting the criminal justice system. Victims of crime and jurors have unrealistic expectations about the role of evidence...
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Why cutting spending on public health is a false economy
Public health spending is under threat. This despite the fact that increasing investment in prevention is the foundation of a sustainable NHS. Cutting these budgets is alarmingly short-termist and indicates a fundamental failure of the government to understand the changing nature...
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Why do older British ex-pats trust Spanish health care?
When we went to talk to British ex-pats who’d retired to Spain, it was not surprising to find them enjoying the ‘good life’. Sun, sea and the ready community of other British retirees all made Mallorca or the Costa Blanca...
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2+2 equals 5