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Opinion - Page 7

Every gap is an educational gap

"Recently I saw Ted and Rachel. They were living temporarily in a share house as they had recently been made homeless. Ted is a happy man despite his current circumstances, but has diabetes that is not well controlled. He takes his medication,
9 January 2026
2 mins read
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Wagging the dog

The inappropriate transfer of work from secondary care in particular is a well-recognised problem which seems difficult to address. Ben Hoban wonders if this reflects a broadly political change in the goals of British healthcare.
14 August 2024
4 mins read

Reflecting on the recent racist riots

Carter Singh reflects that we need to address the underlying cause of the racism, hatred, polarisation and intolerance that is now brimming over the edges into everyday life.
10 August 2024
2 mins read
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Why perpetuate NHS funding gaps?

In the second of two articles on NHS funding formulae, Rodney Jones looks at trends in death and the implications for cost pressures on the NHS. Why can’t government funding take into account the well-established nearness to death (NTD) methodologies, ending the
8 August 2024
5 mins read
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Eating the elephant or riding it

If all we have to offer are platitudes and cures, we will be stuck forever trying to eat the elephant in the room, a possibility in theory, but rarely in practice. If we can understand and engage with our patient’s point of
27 July 2024
4 mins read
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GP workload and patient safety

How has increasing workload impacted on GPs, and our sense of providing safe care to our patients? Nada Khan finds that research into workload and safety suggests an association between wellbeing, burnout and patient safety.
25 July 2024
6 mins read

A secret medicine

The intervention takes less than a minute every day - and done at scale would be safe and as cheap as chips. Imagine that existing good quality evidence showed that it is 10 times more effective than the current NHS Health Check
20 July 2024
4 mins read
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Everything happens in the context of a relationship

I don’t need to tell a GP audience this, but it’s always worth a reminder. For us GPs the relationship is everything. Outside GPs this doesn’t seem widely understood. Everyone will agree that relationships are crucial, but usually in a way that
15 July 2024
2 mins read
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Myriads of deities

In Japan, there is a saying that deities disguise themselves as difficulties and offer trials to those who have true courage and strength. My supervisors taught me that when we are overwhelmed and troubled by complex problems, we should respond with sincerity
8 July 2024
2 mins read
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Cautionary tales

Stories entertain us, but on a deeper level, they also help us make sense of our experience; they are cultural vectors, transmitting the values and wisdom of one generation to the next. The proper use of power is a common theme in
4 July 2024
3 mins read
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Digital ‘Diabetes’

Most jobs now involve a screen and being online. "What does this new reality do our minds and brains?" is a question yet to have enough evidence to answer. However it is fast becoming clear that we are no happier or healthier
20 June 2024
4 mins read

Capital advantage

The idea of history repeating is historically recurrent. It goes back to the ancients, so there must be something in it. A case in point is the UK’s recent infected blood scandal ...
17 June 2024
3 mins read
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Medicine, patients, and the law

Andrew Papanikitas reviews and reflects on a good critical sourcebook on the law for GP trainers and trainees looking to flesh out a case-based discussion or tutorial, as well as for the GP looking for reading in response to a patient unmet
13 June 2024
3 mins read

The political determinants of health

“Medicine is a social science, and politics nothing but medicine at a larger scale." Mavin Kashyap invites us to think politics as a UK General election gets closer.
10 June 2024
4 mins read
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The magic ingredient

In a time of unprecedented pressure on health professionals, especially on GPs, how do we hang onto the magic ingredients that make those brief consultations count? A poem in answer.
9 June 2024
2 mins read

Medical examiners in death certification: an open letter

Edin Lakasing and Shalinee Patel believe that this system offers poor value for public money, will needlessly increase practice workload, and risks having a corrosive effect on the trust fundamental to the relationship between healthcare workers and families.
5 June 2024
4 mins read
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Addressing addiction

So my big reveal was that I was a doctor. That is to say a human being who'd been to medical school and was employed in delivering healthcare, not someone who'd been born with supernatural skills to look into other people's souls
3 June 2024
4 mins read

Is it cruel to be kind? An open letter.

Kindness is a disposition that can’t be policed and which grows out of care, attention and connection. To suggest it can be enforced and regulated for is a mistake, explain Rupal Shah and colleagues.
29 May 2024
2 mins read
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