Continuity of care should be “essential requirement” in GP contract, says watchdog
The GP contract should be modified to explicitly include and support the need for GP…
Category: British Medical Journal
Police launch investigation into practice of former Belfast neurologist
Police have launched an investigation into the practice of Michael Watt, a former Belfast consultant…
Tom Nolan’s research reviews—30 November 2023
Clinical benefits from new drugsPrescrire is a French independent non-profit organisation that offers healthcare professionals…
Painful targetoid lesions on the penis and pubis
A man in his 20s presented to the dermatology clinic with a one week history…
What’s in the sac?
These are abdominal computed tomography scans of a man in his 70s who presented with…
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Thalassaemia: NHS to offer stem cell transplants to adults who need transfusions
Adults who have transfusion dependent thalassaemia are being given access to stem cell transplantations on…
Valproate prescribing rules will tighten from January, says MHRA
From January 2024 valproate must not be started in new patients aged under 55 unless…
Challenges in diabetes and obesity: five minutes with . . . Jonathan Valabhji
“Over the past 30 years we’ve moved from marked premature mortality from cardiovascular disease to…
Brighton surgery inquiry: Police will inform patients and relatives if their cases are included in review
A police investigation into alleged criminal negligence at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton…
US medical schools should teach students how to counsel patients on firearm injury prevention
Firearm injuries have become an epidemic in the United States. In 2022, more than 48…
Climate crisis: what do we do if they ignore us?
Thank you for the recent joint editorial on the global health emergency; I applaud the…
Red Crescent in Egypt prepares aid for Palestinians
bmj;383/nov29_4/p2799/FAF1faKhaled Elfiqi/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockEgyptian Red Crescent Society employees and volunteers organise humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, food,…
“We weren’t that great at treating flu—it should not be our model for covid”: America’s covid-19 tsar speaks
Taking office in November 2021, US President Joe Biden was immediately confronted by the chaotic…
David Oliver: With virtual wards, NHS England is overpromising once again
The term “virtual wards” gained fresh momentum in the NHS during the first waves of…
We must stamp out sexual harassment in surgery
A recent report titled Breaking the Silence,1 written by the Working Party on Sexual Misconduct…
Scarlett McNally: Rethinking ageing can help the NHS recover
As a surgeon, I’m focused on the NHS’s huge waiting list for elective surgery and…
Helen Salisbury: Training in the medical model
There’s been much discussion in the press and on social media about the role of…
Swine flu: UK reports its first human case of A(H1N2)v strain
The UK has detected its first human case of a new strain of influenza, A(H1N2)v,…
New Zealand’s new government says it will repeal groundbreaking anti-smoking law
New Zealand’s revolutionary anti-smoking law, which drew headlines around the world when it passed last…
England’s GP leader calls for end to “ridiculous” bureaucracy
The chair of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee (England), Katie Bramall-Stainer, has hit out at…
Pandemic preparedness: is the UK ready for a pandemic that affects children?
Before covid-19, concerns were raised that the UK was unprepared for a pandemic that predominantly…
Donald Longmore: surgeon, physiologist, and leading member of the team that undertook Britain’s first human-to-human heart transplantation
bmj;383/nov28_6/p2792/FAF1faCredit: ANL/ShutterstockIf Donald Longmore had had his way, the first human-to-human heart transplantation would have…
Pfizer sues Poland over unclaimed covid vaccines
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is going to court in an effort to force Poland to…
Debate on associates is affecting their health and wellbeing, NHS England warns
NHS England has asked the BMA to bring forward a meeting arranged for later this…
Long term investment could avert 20 000 cancer deaths a year by 2040, says charity
The UK urgently requires sustained and ambitious investment in cancer care to reduce mortality and…
Health is the engine to drive more urgent action on climate change, says WHO
World Health Organization leaders hope that the first ever health day at the 28th UN…
A&E doctor who altered notes after failing to check patient&x2019;s blood results before discharge is struck off
A doctor who discharged a patient from a hospital’s accident and emergency department without reviewing…
Halt plans to restrict foreign workers joining the NHS and care services, say leaders
NHS and care leaders have called for the government to abandon plans to restrict the…
Physician associates and doctor apprenticeships can be part of the future of medicine
Physician associates and apprenticeships are seen by many in the medical profession as controversial, and…
Consultants in England to vote on new pay deal
The BMA and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association are to put a pay offer…
Medical associate professionals: we need calm heads and a pause
As Partha Kar said in his recent column, the whole situation around medical associate professionals,…
Deprivation and learning disabilities linked to increased risk of dying from sepsis, study finds
People from the most socioeconomically deprived groups in England are almost twice as likely to…
Online searching of patients is a complement, not a workaround
Amara says that searching for information about patients online is an unspoken taboo, with limited…
Can I treat an acquaintance?
The pitfalls can varyAlison Whiting, policy officer for standards at the General Medical Council, says,…
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Covid inquiry: The week that science became both bamboozling and a millstone
PM was bamboozled and confused over sciencePatrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser (CSA)…
Sixty seconds on . . . red wine headache
Why are you shouting?It’s good news! Scientists at the University of California, Davis, think they’ve…
Fellowships and international medical graduates: the need for a reappraisal
Davies highlights the challenges of various fellowship schemes for international medical graduates (IMGs).1 Since the…
When I use a word . . . Medicines regulation—poisons
Paracelsus’s dictumThe Swiss-born physician and alchemist who called himself Paracelsus (1493–1541) was born Philippus Aureolus…
Rise in people found dead and decomposed suggests breakdown of support networks, say researchers
Researchers have raised concerns over the increasing number of people in England and Wales whose…
Example of a good fellowship scheme worthy of imitation by more trusts
The matters raised in this article are timely and important.1The need to streamline trainee education…
Scrap contracts that allow private firms to “play fast and loose” with GP surgeries, say LMCs
Time limited contracts that were introduced to allow private companies to run NHS GP surgeries…
Bring in GP waiting lists to manage demand, says BMA
GPs need to consider creating waiting lists for patients in order to manage workload in…
Calls for cervical screening should treat women like adults
Northwest Cancer Research, a cancer charity in the northwest of England and north Wales, has…
ADHD: GPs demand action to support England’s “shamefully underfunded” services
Local general practice leaders have called for urgent action to tackle chronic underfunding of attention…
Medical education is still complicit in poor healthcare outcomes for ethnic minority patients
Last year I returned to clinical practice in the UK as a paediatric registrar after…
A pink patch on the face of an infant
A seven week old female infant presented with an asymptomatic pink-red rash on the left…
The “abortion trail” to England from the rest of the British Isles is on rocky ground
Earlier this year Kelly, 35, contacted the Abortion Support Network (ASN), a charity headquartered in…
Tom Nolan’s research reviews—23 November 2023
Emotional distress affecting outcomes of cancer treatmentCould cancer treatment protocols one day recommend delaying treatment…
How African countries can prepare for the next pandemic
The resilience of African countries to disease outbreaks such as Ebola, cholera, malaria, and, recently,…
Argentina: Public health budget and abortion access at risk after Milei elected president
The election of self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei as president of Argentina on 19 November has…