The England football team is better managed than the country’s health policy
The National Health Service in England is at breaking point. A new briefing by the…
Category: British Medical Journal
Formula milk companies are exploiting legal loopholes, say campaigners
Formula companies are exploiting legal loopholes by selling infant milks that should be available only…
Women need high quality, independent information about the menopause
From broadsheet newspapers to the Today programme, there was fulsome coverage of the recent report…
What are medical doctor degree apprenticeships? A brand new route into medicine
What are medical doctor degree apprenticeships (MDDAs)?MDDAs will provide an alternative pathway to medicine, outside…
Staff shortage led to death of paediatrician from neglect, says coroner
A retired consultant paediatrician who worked for 45 years in the NHS died of neglect…
Update to living systematic review on effectiveness of heterologous and homologous covid-19 vaccine regimens
This living systematic review by Au and Cheung (BMJ 2022;379:e069989) has been updated. For the…
Pension changes won’t stem doctor exodus, warns BMA
Proposed changes to NHS pension arrangements designed to stop senior doctors leaving the workforce because…
Partha Kar: In praise of social media for doctors
Social media can be a fascinating part of the medical world—an intriguing cocktail of joyousness…
What Italy’s lurch to the right means for its healthcare
Much has changed since covid-19 first shocked Italy—and Europe—in February 2020,1 not least the country’s…
Why I . . . swim outdoors in cold water
“I’m looking forward to swimming in cold water at the Hampstead Heath Mixed Pond. It’s…
NHS estate is in dire condition and harming patient care, BMA report warns
Crumbling and outdated buildings in need of repair and modernisation are hindering doctors from providing…
John Launer: Words I want to ban
Which words or phrases would you like to see disappear from doctors’ vocabulary? I’d nominate…
Managing risk from conflicts of interest in guideline development committees
Evidence informed guidelines produced by global institutions, government bodies, and professional or charitable health organisations…
Strep A: GPs are put on alert as cases and deaths rise
GPs in the UK are being alerted that the group A streptococcal infection and scarlet…
Helen Salisbury: Safety netting relies on a responsive system
Our waiting rooms are full of anxious parents, with children sitting listlessly on a lap…
How the GMC can do better
Much of what Abbasi says is understandable, but saying that the General Medical Council is…
Doctors slam “unprovoked and unȷustified” media attack on GP for working remotely
Thousands of doctors are demanding an apology for the way a GP was targeted and…
GMC reform: protecting patients does not mean finding and chastising wrongdoers
I agree with Abbasi that something must done about the General Medical Council.1 But, for…
Sixty seconds on . . . Christmas wishes
On the first day of Christmas the NHS sent to me . . .A free…
Health Education England outlines training plans for “digital first” NHS
Health Education England has set out its blueprint for equipping current and future healthcare workers…
NHS facing “perfect storm” as flu admissions rise 40% in a week
The number of people in hospital with influenza rose by 40% in England last week,…
Ending the food bank paradox
Britain’s food insecurity crisis was worsening before we’d heard of covid-19. In the year up…
John Walshe: physician-scientist who revolutionised the treatment of Wilson’s disease
bmj;379/dec02_4/o2910/FAF1faBorn to a medical family in Kensington, London, John Michael Walshe was the younger son…
US public health services receive $3bn to build workforce and tackle local needs
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $3.2bn to strengthen the…
Doctors report “cry of pain” at witnessing worsening health under government cuts
Doctors across the UK have told the BMA of the distress they are experiencing at…
Hospital policies can create barriers to good management of opioid withdrawal
The studyHarris M, Holland A, Lewer D, et al. Barriers to management of opioid withdrawal…
Lecanemab trial finds slight slowing of cognitive decline, but clinical benefits are uncertain
The monoclonal antibody lecanemab may slow cognitive decline in people with early Alzheimer’s disease but…
Around 11 000 ambulances are waiting more than an hour at A&E every week, analysis finds
The number of patients having to wait in ambulances outside hospitals in England for more…
Poor housing and dark satanic mills
Articles in The BMJ this week featuring mills and housing may seem like a throwback,…
Covid-19: High rates in hospitals have hampered elective care recovery, says NHS chief
The NHS in England significantly underestimated the continuing impact of covid-19 on hospital bed capacity…
Deep brain stimulation surgery is suspended at Birmingham trust over poor clinical results
Deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS) for movement disorders has been suspended indefinitely by University Hospitals…
Correction for vol. 379, p.
Optimizing Therapy to Prevent Avoidable Hospital Admissions in Multimorbid Older Adults (OPERAM): cluster randomised controlled…
An unusual cause of stroke
A woman in her 60s presented with acute onset numbness and weakness of the left…
Domestic abuse is important risk factor for suicide
A coroner’s inquest in England has concluded that the underlying cause of a 34 year…
Lung health after covid . . . and other stories
Long term effects of covid-19 pneumoniaPersisting structural lung abnormalities after covid-19 pneumonia seem to be…
Tom Nolan’s research reviews—1 December 2022
Waiting for the next confidence intervalMany of the terms used in research papers seem ripe…
Oxygen administration during surgery and postoperative organ injury: observational cohort study
AbstractObjectiveTo examine whether supraphysiological oxygen administration during surgery is associated with lower or higher postoperative…
Oxygen administration during general anaesthesia for surgery
Oxygen is routinely administered to almost all patients undergoing general anaesthesia,1 to ensure adequate oxygenation…
Effectiveness of mRNA-1273, BNT162b2, and BBIBP-CorV vaccines against infection and mortality in children in Argentina, during predominance of delta and omicron covid-19 variants: test negative, case-control study
AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the effectiveness of a two dose vaccine schedule (mRNA-1273, BNT162b2, and BBIBP-CorV) against…
Everything, every day, all at once—why we need to ask less of medical students
The romanticised narrative that our university years will be the “best of our life” can…
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NICE publishes two potential new QOF indicators for inclusion in GP contract
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published two draft indicators1—for atrial…
NHS England halts mass rollout of automatic patient access to GP records
NHS England has instructed the IT system suppliers EMIS and TPP not to switch on…
Northern Ireland: Tackle isolation among clinicians to avoid future patient harms, says review into neurologist
The health and care watchdog in Northern Ireland must tackle isolation among clinicians working alone,…
GPs caught in media menopause spotlight
Menopause is certainly big news at the moment. Last week, NHS England published its first…
Covid-19: Protests against lockdowns in China reignite amid crackdown
The Chinese government has been struggling to quell protests against lockdowns throughout the country that…
Scarlett McNally: Prioritising the health of our children by reducing road traffic deaths
Last year, 27 450 people were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads.1 If these…
Squamous cell carcinoma arising in smallpox vaccination scar
This is a red macule with thick scales on the left arm of a man…
David Oliver: England is still waiting for social care solutions
In Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Vladimir says, “Well. What do we do?”—to which Estragon…
RIP #medtwitter? What Twitter’s potential collapse could mean for doctors
Many people have been saying their farewells to mutual followers on Twitter in the past…
GMC needs to take a more proactive role in preventing harm and suicide in doctors under investigation
In the reference we quoted, 29 doctors died while under investigation by the General Medical…