http://www.ffinetwork.org/regional_activity/europe.php all wheat flour (except wholemeal) produced in the UK is subject to legislation which requires calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin to be added at certain specified levels Folic acid factsheet – women wanting to be/pregnant – https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/FolicAcid.pdf 1st reading of a bill to make mandatory in house of lords awaiting second reading – england […]

The ‘ 20% more likely to have a stroke at the weekend’ quote used by various politicians – seems to have come from study in PLOS 2004 – 2012 DATA http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131836#sec014 However ,20% is relative risk – one needs to know the absolute risk to make sense of that. If admitted at weekend death rate […]

Exercise special. I am addicted to parkrun.  I’ve written about it here in the BMJ and you can find out more here . The SPARKLE studies are here and here. The parkrun community are warm and welcoming and new runners/joggers/walkers are always welcome. Links to research I was talking about today NHS guidelines (which I think are too […]

: Whistleblowing policy I raised concerns that this should be enshrined in college policy and clear to all members. : ‘Be the best you’ meeting proposal for membership to increase resilience – it sounds like a Martin Lukes column. Resilience comes from strong systems and the best doctors will fail without that. Continuity of care […]

in Spectator 

PFI http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11748960/The-PFI-hospitals-costing-NHS-2bn-every-year.html Transitional costs to HSCA 2012 https://fullfact.org/factchecks/health_and_social_care_act_costs_benefits-29070 Nottingham ISTC buyback http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commissioning-news/nhs-england-paid-42m-to-buy-independent-treatment-centre-from-private-provider/20004316.fullarticle dementia screening https://www.gov.uk/government/news/recommendation-against-national-dementia-screening healthchecks http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63456/ private sector http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-implants/pages/pip-introduction.aspx Cancer drugs fund https://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/01/12/cancer-drug-budget/ 7 day GP working  over use low value rx – e.g. arthroscopy part time spiritual healer     Epping Breast Unit is one of the largest breast cancer research facilities north of […]

Almost two-thirds of women who attempt a natural delivery after having a c-section are successful http://www.bjog.org/details/news/5536911/Almost_two-thirds_of_women_who_attempt_a_natural_delivery_after_having_a_c-secti.html NICE on Caesarian section http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg132/resources/guidance-caesarean-section-pdf CSection risks compared to vaginal birth risks http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg132/chapter/Appendix-C-Planned-CS-compared-with-planned-vaginal-birth European stats – http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1471-0528.13284/pdf UK stats  http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c5065 History of Caesarians https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part2.html UK historical rates http://www.birthchoiceuk.com/Professionals/BirthChoiceUKFrame.htm?http://www.birthchoiceuk.com/Professionals/CSHistory.htm Parliamentary briefing and from 2002 Click to access pn184.pdf from NCT    […]

National Audit office report England Click to access cdf-sum-fin-pos.pdf http://www.costellomedical.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/COSTELLO_Medical_Poster_PHP431.pdfhttp://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5941 v informative by James Rafferty James Raftery: NICE and value based pricing—is this the end? James Raftery: NICE proposes alternative for value based pricing Scotland http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01407 Click to access PE1407_A_Scottish_Medicines_Consortium_12.01.12.pdf Click to access PE1407_F_Scottish_Government_20.01.12.pdf Wales http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-29903416 http://www.wales.nhs.uk/governance-emanual/individual-patient-funding-requests Click to access 140429ipfr-report-en.pdf Northern Ireland http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32955458 http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news-dhssps-170215-greater-access-to […]

Council 18/sept. 15 I spoke to The media pressure being heaped upon GPs and the attitudes of the CQC/NICE/Department of Health being less than helpful. New GPs may be put off training because of the ongoing unpleasant press. Was there a need to engage these organisations and challenge the culture of trial by press release […]

Physical treatments Bug busting kit vs pesticides trial -BMJ open which finds it works better than pesticides, and does pilot study but previous Lancet study saying it’s not as good  Non – pesticide treatments Dimethicone  – evidence here, here, open label study here,  RCT here, here, vs premetharin, and liquid gel proof of concept trial Systematic review […]