New and follow-up outpatient appointments are out of date concepts
Oliver challenges the NHS England targets around outpatient appointments.1 He references the work that the…
Category: British Medical Journal
Stretched medical aid agencies race to disaster zones in Libya and Morocco
International aid agencies have quickly reached areas affected by earthquakes in Morocco and flooding in…
We must confront sexual violence in the NHS to prevent further institutional harm
The recent “Me Too in Medicine” investigation by The BMJ and the Guardian1 is an…
Phenylephrine: Commonly used decongestant in cold and flu remedies doesn’t work, says FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that the decongestant phenylephrine, used in…
How to identify and manage sports related concussions in primary care
What you need to knowConcussion rehabilitation should last at least 20 days for non-elite sport…
Advances in the care of breast cancer survivors
AbstractBreast cancer survivors may experience significant after effects from diagnoses of breast cancer and cancer…
Nepal’s scramble to piece together a health budget amid rumoured cuts
Mandeep Pathak’s mind is on full alert. A tractor carrying local people to a funeral…
UK perinatal mortality rates increased in 2021 for first time in seven years
Stillbirths and neonatal deaths rose across the UK in 2021, after seven years of annual…
Reframing Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement: from gender violence to state violence
On 16 September 2022, the Woman, Life, Freedom movement was sparked by the tragic death…
Nipah virus: India’s Kerala state moves quickly to control fresh outbreak
The Indian state of Kerala has closed schools, offices, and public transport in the Kozhikode…
Smart toilets, bored students, why crowds gather, and tasty rocks—it’s the 2023 Ig Nobel Awards
We have smartphones and smart watches, so why not smart toilets? Seung-min Park and his…
When I use a word . . . The ambiguity of “work” in the ICMJE recommendations on publishing in medical ȷournals
A debateA colleague recently consulted me about the meaning of the word “work.” He had…
Menstrual health must be prioritised in global policies
Menstrual health is the gateway to promoting sexual and reproductive health rights, building body autonomy…
Covid-19: Drug companies charged South Africa high prices for vaccines, contracts reveal
South Africa’s government, desperate to secure covid vaccines when wealthy nations had reserved most of…
Maternity care: Understaffing at two units is putting mothers and babies at risk, says CQC
Care Quality Commission inspectors have downgraded the two maternity services at County Durham and Darlington…
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Ovarian cancer: NICE recommends expanding availability of genetic testing
New draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends widening…
Police expand inquiry into patient deaths at hospital in Brighton
A police investigation into possible criminal negligence at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton…
Pig kidney works a record two months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants
NEW YORK — Dozens of doctors and nurses silently lined the hospital hallway in tribute:…
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Under-representation of women in research: a status quo that is a scandal
Among the failings of medical research, the under-representation of women and ethnic minorities in clinical…
Sixty seconds on . . . movie credits
What’s this got to do with medicine?This is about academia and the questionable practices that…
Diagnosis and management of diabetes in children and young people: summary of updated NICE guidance
Clarification—This NICE guideline summary (BMJ 2016;352:i139 doi:10.1136/bmj.i139) has now been superseded by a summary of…
Ann Robinson’s research reviews—14 September 2023
Covid, babies, and type 1 diabetesThere’s been a reported rise in diabetes in children since…
A man with ST segment depression
A man in his 40s presented to the emergency department with a nine hour history…
Aspirin . . . and other stories
Adverse effects of aspirinA couple of weeks ago, Minerva mentioned a large trial of low…
A pink swelling on the eyebrow
A child presented with this firm, immobile, and painless lump over the right eyebrow (fig…
NICE recommends rimegepant for treating acute migraine in adults
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published draft guidance recommending the…
Health coalition calls for industry levy on salt and sugar
An industry-wide levy on salt and sugar could prevent almost two million cases of chronic…
A third of medical students plan to leave the NHS within two years of graduating, survey suggests
One in three UK medical students plan to leave the NHS within two years of…
NHS still reliant on paper patient notes and drug charts despite electronic upgrades, The BMJ finds
Three quarters of trusts in England that responded to a BMJ survey are still reliant…
Seven days in medicine: 6-12 September 2023
SmokingRates fall but “not quickly enough” to achieve targetOffice for National Statistics data show that…
Authors’ reply to Oke and Welch
We thank Oke and Welch for their response.1The aim of our study2 is to provide…
GP practice successfully defends discrimination claim brought by patient who abused staff
A GP practice in England that removed an abusive patient from its list has successfully…
Covid-19: New “Pirola” variant BA.2.86 continues to spread in UK and US
The new BA.2.86 variant of SARS-CoV-2—nicknamed “Pirola”—is now likely to be spreading in the community…
Simplified consent in cluster randomised trials: the new EU Clinical Trials Regulation does not provide sufficient guidance
Key messagesThe new European Union Clinical Trials Regulation requires the use of “simplified consent” for…
John Launer: Living with uncertainty
I was recently invited to talk to a group of GP registrars about uncertainty in…
Capacity problems in the NHS’s cardiac cath labs are harming patients
Cardiac catheterisation laboratories or “cath labs”—a cross between operating theatres and x ray rooms—are an…
Making international trainees feel welcome: why did we stop providing accommodation?
Thank you for this important piece on what it takes to make international trainees feel…
Local ownership of health can be flexible and forward looking
Palmer and Rosen highlight the missing pieces and uncertainty around NHS England’s long awaited workforce…
Voluntary sector is missing from the NHS workforce plan
Palmer and Rosen outline the missing pieces in the NHS workforce plan,1 but there is…
Making international trainees feel welcome: don’t forget Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
I find it surprising how people often forget the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs…
Breast cancer: conflating case fatality with mortality
While we agree with Taylor and colleagues that the prognosis for women with breast cancer…
UK could have averted 240 000 deaths in 2010s if it matched other European nations, report finds
The UK has fallen far behind its international peers on a range of health outcomes…
Nearly a third of female surgeons have been sexually assaulted by a colleague, survey finds
Almost a third of female surgeons report having been sexually assaulted by a colleague, and…
The NHS workforce plan: promoting health and social care in secondary schools
The as yet unknown effects of technology and changes in roles and service delivery models…
There can be no gender equality without menstrual justice
The menstrual cycle and menstruation are normal, physiological processes. But the experience of menstruation is…
Helen Salisbury: The weight of emotions
Patients bring many things with them to the consulting room. Some we’re expecting, including their…
Glucose monitoring and glucose lowering agents for children and young people with type 2 diabetes: summary of updated NICE guidance
What you need to knowRefer children and young people with suspected or diagnosed type 2…
How can I support my colleague returning to work with long covid?
Don’t let it be the elephant in the roomRachel Duncan, clinical lead for the Brighton…
Partha Kar: If you won’t speak up, how will the world know you exist?
The leadership journey for me started pretty early in my career—as a trainee, in fact—before…
Sixty seconds on . . . turmeric
What’s cooking?A study1 has suggested that a natural compound found in the culinary spice turmeric…