When Willie Ramirez was admitted to hospital in Florida his Spanish speaking family said he was intoxicado. There is no exact equivalent of intoxicado in English. It doesn’t mean intoxicated, […]
Columnists
Tiago Villanueva: The difference between a job and a fulfilling career
A few days ago I was having dinner with a group of close friends who are all doctors, and working in the Portuguese public healthcare sector. One of the topics […]
Desmond O’Neill: Ageing with Keith Jarrett
The last time I heard Keith Jarrett was just over thirty years ago, a distraction from the tensions of final med with some fellow medical students. Even the choir balcony […]
Richard Smith: Are Glaswegians the Aboriginals of Europe?
Harry Burns, the chief medical officer of Scotland and one of medicine’s philosophers, has spent a lot of time trying to understand why Scotland has such poor health and what […]
Pritpal S Tamber: The fallacy of user interfaces and big data
I’m lucky enough to spend my workdays around the kinetic kids in Google Campus, London. From what I can tell, they sit about hacking code to see what they might […]
Richard Smith: Will entrepreneurs save the NHS?
All the political parties and those at the top of the NHS see an important role for entrepreneurs in the latest version of the health service. Those labouring within the […]
Desmond O’Neill: Lessons of the Francis Report are not just confined to the NHS
One of the most striking theatre productions I have ever witnessed was a riotous Polish play called Birthrate, the highlight of the 1981 Dublin Theatre Festival. Starting with a stage […]
Marge Berer: Depo Provera
The recent news that Ethiopian Jewish women had been given the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera without their knowledge or consent awakened a strong feeling of déjà vu for me. When I […]
Penny Campling: How will shame play out in the wake of the Francis report?
One word that keeps being used in response to the Francis report into failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust is “shame.” Interestingly, it seems to be used more than “guilt” and […]
Julian Sheather: Should I sign him off sick?
Thou shalt not judge. A GP asked me recently whether he should sign patients off sick when he thought they were swinging the lead. I talk to a lot of […]