Unfortunately, last week’s column of acupuncture seems to have upset a few people. On the one hand, those who believe in acupuncture have accused me of being unfair to complementary medicine. At the other end of the scale, alternative medicine sceptics have said I am too interested in what acupuncture has to offer. In order to solve this long-running debate once and for all, I’d like […]
Continue Reading →Acupuncturing a myth: column
Britain’s backs are in terrible shape. We spend more time off work because of back pain than for any other ailment, according to the NHS. So it’s not surprising that we are keen to relieve our suffering. A new study on acupuncture and back pain tries to do just this, though in truth it is […]
Continue Reading →Free pens, free lunch, and drug reps
I may not have seen a pharmaceutical rep for over five years, but still the branded pens they gift to medics continue to infiltrate my house and my handbag. I conciously throw out the drug company pens I find, but they just seep back in: every time I lose my own plain biro, there is […]
Continue Reading →Strike off whistleblowers?
Margaret Haywood was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council last week. She had secretly filmed patients in the hospital where she worked to document the conditions, which she claimed to have previously reported. These images were subsequently broadcast on the BBC programme Panorama. There has been an outcry from nurses, as well as from some families […]
Continue Reading →Check the check up
And lo, the government said, we must woo voters. And they had a great idea: check ups. Let’s not leave them to the private providers. Let’s put them on the NHS. Everybody loves a check up. The Department of Health sets out its new idea in a policy paper “Putting prevention first – vascular checks: […]
Continue Reading →In praise of slow medicine
I have been inspired by Harry Eyres’s piece on Slow London in the FT over the weekend. So much of working in medicine feels like a sprint. Short and overbooked appointments, busy clinics, multiple bits of administrative work to be ticked, crossed, signed and dated; e-mails and correspondence to deal with, questions from patients and […]
Continue Reading →The dangers of databases
The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust is today launching a report, “Database State”, which examines the rationale, security and consequences of 46 public sector databases. It is co-authored by Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, who is an outspoken critic of government databases. The results are startling. Two databases, the NHS Detailed Care […]
Continue Reading →Rate my doctor
The concept of doctor-rating websites seems to be gathering political momentum; in fact, it’s already a reality. The NHS is being offered this data, apparently to ensure that “patient choice” is offered and “patient experience” is good. I think it’s an unproven and potentially hazardous waste of money. There’s a piece that I wrote for the BMJ here; […]
Continue Reading →Doctor, doctor
The MB ChB medical degree confers a Bachelor’s degree only. True doctorates are PhDs. However, I am guilty of having the title of “Dr” on my bank card. This was only because I thought it might help me get a (larger) overdraft when first out of medical school. But otherwise, at the hairdressers, school gates, and in […]
Continue Reading →We need evidence, not a register
I am dismayed to note that complementary therapists are now able to register with the CHNC. Ben Bradshaw, the health minister who is also so keen on the non-evidence based ‘iwantgreatcare.org’ doctor-rating website, is reported as saying: “I welcome the opening of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) register…which the public can turn to for help. Members of the public […]
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