Covid-19: High Court overturns decision to ban GP from posting views on pandemic on social media
A tribunal made an “error of law” when it restrained a GP accused of spreading…
Author: British Medical Journal
Helen Salisbury: Will GPs boost the booster rollout?
In mid-November our primary care network agreed to pause our delivery of booster vaccines, with…
Mental health units: new law targets inappropriate use of force
Patients in mental healthcare settings will be better protected from the inappropriate use of force…
Government promises largest ever investment in treatment and recovery to tackle drug use
The government has promised the largest ever investment in drug treatment and recovery as part…
Covid-19: “Mix and match” primary vaccines are safe and effective, study finds
Having a different covid-19 vaccine after a single dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines…
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Multifactorial falls prevention programme compared with usual care in UK care homes for older people: multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation
AbstractObjectivesTo determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of a multifactorial fall prevention programme compared with…
Preventing falls in residential care
Older people living in residential care are a vulnerable population with complex health and functional…
Tackling population health challenges as we build back from the pandemic
No amount of positive spin can detract from the numbers. The UK has not done…
International in-person medical meetings have had their day but we need conference playbooks
I completely agree with Smith that international in-person medical conferences have had their day.1 There…
The NHS: time to change and rebuild with 21st century tools
It is clear that politicians’ short sighted “fixes” are not going to help to rebuild…
A national infrastructure plan for the NHS, social care, and public health is needed to build resilience for the future
An important and urgent lesson from covid-19 is the need for properly resourced public services…
Covid-19: What we have learnt from behavioural science during the pandemic so far that can help prepare us for the future
The covid-19 pandemic is far from over. Over the autumn, the UK has seen between…
GP leaders warn over the rollout of cholesterol lowering inclisiran in primary care
The BMA and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) say they have “serious concerns”…
NHS covid passes should be available for children
I agree with Alwan’s well made points about the “childism” of allowing mass SARS-CoV-2 infections…
Covid-19: Hundreds of refugee and international doctors join NHS through innovative scheme
The medical support worker (MSW) scheme, introduced by NHS England to boost the workforce during…
Preparing for Omicron as a covid veteran
It feels like the world is slowly closing in on me as I hear the…
Radiologist who breached conditions on his practice is struck off
A radiologist who was suspended for a year by a medical practitioners tribunal for dishonestly…
Advice by mail is as effective as targeted interventions in preventing injuries from falls
The studyThis NIHR Alert is based on: Lamb S, Bruce J, Hossain A. Screening and…
Sixty seconds on . . . the pub landlord
Time gentlemen, pleaseFormer health secretary Matt Hancock had a not-so-happy-hour this week after he was…
Shared wards are not appropriate for 21st century medicine
Oliver asks whether single rooms should be the default for NHS inpatients.1 Some years ago,…
Shared bays in hospitals provide companionship
Oliver discusses the idea of making single rooms in hospitals the default to improve infection…
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Neglect of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder must end
In September, the UK government published its long awaited report on health needs assessment for…
Can I give Christmas gifts to colleagues?
If in doubt about a conflict of interest, act as though there isBeth Walker, medicolegal…
Management of pneumonia in critically ill patients
AbstractSevere pneumonia is associated with high mortality (short and long term), as well as pulmonary…
Evidence is insufficient to back mandatory NHS staff vaccination, says House of Lords committee
A House of Lords committee has raised several concerns about the proposed legislation to make…
What is general practice’s place in the new world?
Mathew’s commendable article advocating “major reforms that bring our profession together” not surprisingly falls short…
Ann Robinson’s research reviews—3 December 2021
Living long enough to benefit from treatmentBisphosphonates are the main drugs on offer for fracture…
Erythematous plaques on the skin folds
A woman in her 50s presented with bilateral pruritic erythematous plaques in the submammary, axillary,…
Covid-19: Build on success of vaccination programme in reaching ethnic minority groups, report recommends
Lessons learnt in relation to increasing uptake of the covid-19 vaccine among ethnic minority groups…
Covid-19: “Deficient” risk assessment system left UK exposed, says Lords report
The UK remains vulnerable to the impact of extreme risks such as the covid-19 pandemic…
The NHS digital clinical safety strategy
Ensuring patient safety is essential to providing high quality healthcare.1 Despite important advances in this…
Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis
In this paper by Talic and colleagues (BMJ 2021;375:e068302, doi:10.1136/BMJ-2021-068302, published 18 November 2021), reference…
“Coping” with menstruation while working shifts
It is great to see topics which can be considered taboo—such as menstruation—tackled openly as…
Could it be covid? Update information to stop public confusion
As a GP, I completely agree with Salisbury’s article.1 We are currently seeing many patients…
Australia, a laggard in responding to climate change, produces an impressive report on climate change and health
Australia is one of the countries most at risk from climate change, but is a…
Childhood constipation
What you need to knowPrompt initiation and titration of laxatives, active support, and adequate duration…
Show ȷumper wins case against mother’s GP for “wrongful conception” that resulted in her disability
A show jumper born with a neural tube defect has won a landmark case against…
Covid-19: UK approves monoclonal antibody sotrovimab for over 12s at high risk
The UK’s medicines regulator has approved a second monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab, for the treatment of…
World Health Organization to begin negotiating international pandemic treaty
World Health Organization states agreed on 1 December to begin negotiating an international agreement on…
Drug companies need better oversight but have also provided excellent protection
Thacker’s article on integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial is interesting from at least two…
US Supreme Court seems likely to accept Mississippi law that would limit abortion
Questions posed by conservative justices of the US Supreme Court during oral arguments on 1…
Covid 19: Why we need a global pandemic treaty
The world was not prepared for this pandemic. While countries affected by severe acute respiratory…
Covid-19: FDA expert panel recommends authorising molnupiravir but also voices concerns
An advisory panel of experts has voted by 13 to 10 to recommend that the…
Covid-19: GPs need extra staff and capacity to deliver accelerated booster programme, say leaders
General practice will require extra staff and capacity to offer covid-19 booster vaccines to everyone…
Strengthening routine polio vaccination in Afghanistan
We respond to the lifting of the polio vaccination ban in Afghanistan from a humanitarian…
Plans to reform adult social care fall short of promises, say critics
The government’s long awaited proposals on adult social care have been criticised for failing to…
Calls for equity must be specific to be meaningful
In their focus on equity in the post-covid NHS, Patel and colleagues emphasise “clinical prioritisation.”1…
Use of contact tracing, isolation, and mass testing to control transmission of covid-19 in China
China brought the first outbreak of covid-19 under control in March 2020. The response to…
Visualising SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes and mitigations
Scientific understanding about the epidemiology, genetics, and continuing evolution of covid-19 has been transformed since…
What can the world learn from China’s response to covid-19?
The combination of high transmissibility and moderate severity made SARS-CoV-2 a perfect pathogen for a…