A working party looking into the inclusion of placebos in surgical trials has led to a recommendation for greater use of the controversial method by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Although placebo control groups are used in drug trials across the world, placebo-controlled surgical trials are extremely rare, with only 75 such trials published up to October last year. Often … Read more
This is a report of discussions we held in Murton, in the Easington constituency in January 2016. Dr Williams: Most of my patient live in poverty. That is the key to health inequality. Communities are more important for mental health than medical treatment. Health is not just the absence of illness. Most patients are more … Read more
Publicly funded health care spending as a share of GDP in Western European countries: George Osborne’s plans: Estimated public spending on health in the UK as a percentage of GDP,2015/16 to 2020/21: With thanks to Anita Charlesworth of the Health Foundation for her slides.
I asked our members who are involved with mental health services to tell me about what was going on in their area, and what policy areas we should be concentrating on. This is my reflection on what they told me. I’m not an expert in this area, and the mistakes are mine. Please contribute to … Read more
Outside Central Manchester Hospitals NHSFT
Health Secretary accused of gambling with lives in doctors dispute Junior medics launch fake betting shop to showcase that Hunt is gambling with the public’s lives A faux betting shop storefront has been erected outside a London hospital and Westminster by the junior doctors campaign group, ahead of the first planned strike on Tuesday January … Read more
The first half of 2015 was dominated by the election campaign – the first fixed term parliament removing the usual uncertainty of timing. Local election campaigns preoccupied most of our active members. It became apparent early in the campaign that the health policies which we had helped to devise and which had been agreed by … Read more
Report with fireworks
Migrants’ free access to the NHS and the perceived health care costs associated with it have generated much debate in the UK and even resulted in the introduction of a fee for certain non-EU citizens. Some politicians have blamed migration for the increase in waiting times, particularly in A&E. In order to inform this heated … Read more
Please show you #LoveYourNHS by downloading the single NOW!! http://www.nhsno1.com/download #NHS4XmasNo1 #LoveYourNHS #NHS4XmasNo1
We are greatly saddened to announce that Professor Aubrey Sheiham, one of our most distinguished members, passed away on the 24th November 2015. Aubrey was a pioneer in public health globally and a highly respected and loved colleague. He was a driving force and constant advocate of evidence-based medicine and had the courage to challenge professional … Read more
Three quarters of the UK population are pretty much unaffected by the cuts and the proportion is falling. There’s nowhere near enough support here to win a General Election, particularly in the marginal seats. Labour needs to offer something far more inspirational that connects with the broad swathe of ordinary people. I see nobody inside … Read more