Additional testing of blood samples: reflective versus reflex
Silverstein and colleagues discuss the excess of blood tests performed on hospital inpatients and strategies…
Category: BMJ
When I use a word . . . . Sydenham Societies
Thomas SydenhamThomas Sydenham (1624-89) was an English physician. He took the degree of bachelor of…
NHS faces significant pressure as flu and covid cases rise
The NHS received one of the highest weekly numbers of 111 calls last week as…
Ugly side of the beautiful game: the football world cup and domestic violence
Major sports events unite large international audiences in the excitement and fervour of watching their…
GMC to appoint personalised contacts for doctors under investigation
The GMC will make initial contact with a doctor by phone if they need to…
Reimagining health systems as systems for health
While health systems are fundamental to creating health and wellbeing, the covid-19 pandemic has exposed…
Covid-19: NHS is struggling to treat more patients than before pandemic despite more staff and funding, finds analysis
Covid-19 may have dealt a “lasting adverse hit” to NHS performance rather than a short…
Poor IT culture, not infrastructure, is the root cause of health IT problems
Digital innovation is seen as the solution to many pressing healthcare problems. Yet digital technology…
Assisted deaths: Quebec passes Netherlands to lead world in number per capita
Quebec is now the jurisdiction with the highest proportion of people choosing medical assistance in…
Nurses’ strike: Government must act to avoid “stalemate for foreseeable future”
Up to 100 000 nursing staff across the UK walked out in the first of…
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Doctors on film
Doctors have been the heroes of action films, disaster movies, and thrillers—think Harrison Ford in…
She-Hulk: an incredible case of transfusion associated graft versus host disease
Transfusion associated graft versus host disease (TaGVHD) is a rare complication of blood transfusion in…
Protecting children from harms of vaping
The international popularity of vaping products has grown rapidly over the past decade,1 and e-cigarettes…
Fetal monitoring in labour: summary and update of NICE guidance
What you need to knowThe new guideline on fetal monitoring emphasises that women are the…
I tried to survive as a Doctor in The Sims 4
When the world first went into national lockdowns during the covid-19 pandemic, I, like many,…
Strep A: Pharmacists can supply alternative penicillin, in light of shortages
The government has issued protocols to allow pharmacists to dispense alternative penicillin for treating scarlet…
We mustn’t accept long ambulance delays and errors as the new normal in the NHS
Barely a week goes by without headlines about spiralling wait times for NHS ambulatory or…
The NHS’s forgotten workforce—a historical essay by Jennifer Crane
Porters, cleaners, receptionists, chefs, laundry workers, and other ancillary staff have represented a huge proportion…
From health systems to systems for health: much more than semantics
There’s something in the air. Ministries of health in the Bahamas, Barbados, and Botswana have…
Arora case: Review recommendations must be implemented swiftly, says chair
An interim report by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) on…
Tackling the aftermath of Pakistan’s record floods
Monsoon rains this year brought the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history and catastrophe for Jamila,…
Unsung heroes: appreciating colleagues who work alongside us
Cyril SchaegisReceptionist, Newham HospitalAlthough covid-19 had an impact on many people’s lives, it led Cyril…
University Hospitals Birmingham: Inquiries launched into concerns about bullying and patient safety
NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board has announced three major reviews of the culture…
Cumberlege review: Government reconsiders no blame compensation for people harmed by mesh and sodium valproate
The government has said it will review proposals for an independent redress agency for people…
Multipronged efforts are needed to reduce NHS waiting times, says review
Waiting times for elective care in the NHS will be reduced only by taking action…
Human papillomavirus vaccination and cervical cancer risk
ABSTRACTPersistent human papillomavirus infection is the central cause of cervical cancer, the leading cause of…
A call to action
While it is always time to act,1 it can be hard to know where or…
Medical professionals must speak out about the inhumane forced removal of people seeking asylum
Six months ago the British government forced seven people seeking safety in the UK on…
Public health communicators should stop telling people to rely on their instincts
The current Streptococcus A outbreak is causing much concern in the UK. The tragic death…
Theranos exploited black box medicine
Elizabeth Holmes, the 38 year old founder of failed diagnostic start-up Theranos, was sentenced to…
“I’ll be back”: Australia’s experience of flu in 2022
The covid-19 pandemic showed us that non-pharmaceutical interventions such as masks, social distancing, border control,…
Change in US abortion law threatens training for obstetrician-gynaecologists
Nearly half the residents in US obstetrics and gynaecology training programs have problems learning essential…
A system that must be gamed or learnt: a patient’s perspective
It’s easy to complain about disappointing experiences while receiving healthcare. Indeed, discussion of the ways…
Careful, kind care is our compass out of the pandemic fog
Healthcare has become industrialised. Healthcare organisations have largely responded to rising demand, increased harm, and…
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Cornwall trust is told to improve staffing and care on medical wards
Trust leaders in Cornwall have been told to make improvements to services on medical wards…
Evaluation of editors’ abilities to predict the citation potential of research manuscripts submitted to The BMJ: a cohort study
AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the ability of The BMJ editors to predict the number of times submitted…
A self-respecting software engineer wouldn’t go near this mess
Zhang and colleagues do a good job of identifying the causes of NHS IT failures—chronic…
Apply for the 2023 BMJ Student Clegg Scholarship
We are looking for four students who are studying medicine within the UK or European…
Africa needs to take the lead in shaping the future of health on the continent
For decades, Africa’s health priorities, policies, funding sources, and access to medicines have largely been…
Charlotte Jones: Monmouth’s first female GP
bmj;379/dec13_6/o2995/FAF1faRetirement was not enticing to Charlotte Jones. At the age of 55 she underwent GP…
Climate impact of medical imaging needs radical action
I agree with Maskell’s analysis of the rapid growth in demand for medical imaging.1 An…
A fifth of operation cancellations last year were due to NHS staff shortages, Labour claims
NHS hospitals had to cancel an estimated 30 000 operations in 2021-22 because there were…
Over {pound}175m investment in genomic research aims to detect more genetic disorders at birth
The government is to invest more than £175m into improving the diagnosis of rare genetic…
Get out of the big cities, CMO tells researchers
Academic centres need to shift their focus from big cities to populations on the “periphery”…
Abortion in India: legal, but not a woman’s right
“I wanted to be sterilised when my second set of twins was born,” says Maina…
HIV related stigma: a dangerous roadblock
World AIDS Day, on 1 December 2022, marked the first anniversary of the Department of…
Use your vote for maximum benefit for the planet
It’s easy to be cynical about democracy—famously “the least bad system of government.” We’ve recently…
Covid-19: Gabriel Leung reflects on Hong Kong’s devastating fifth wave
BiographyGabriel Leung became the 40th dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU)…
Is immobilisation required for toddler’s fracture of the tibia?
What you need to knowThere are no data or guidelines to suggest whether immobilisation is…
Rising demand for medical imaging: what happened to evidence based medicine?
Too much medical imaging seems to occur in response to a low tolerance to uncertainty,…