As a paediatrician, I share the grave concerns of nurse Ian Wilson who has two children at school in Lewisham and experience of working with covid-19 infected patients. In an open letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week, he pleaded that we were not enrolled against our will in a giant experiment that could […]
Tag: COVID-19
Richard Horton, respected editor of the medical journal ‘the Lancet’, aptly summed up the current pandemic in the following words: “Coronavirus is the greatest global science policy failure in a generation. Austerity blunted the ambition and commitment of government to protect its people. The objective was to diminish the size and role of the state. […]
It is an insult for the government to claim that a life assurance pay out of £60,000 to the families of a health or social care worker who dies of COVID-19 in any way compensates for the loss of life. Despite their protestations that they “will do whatever it takes”, this again shows the scant […]
Since the start of the lockdown we have called for contact tracing and widespread testing as the only means to establish the true prevalence of COVID-19. This is what the World Health Organisation urged all countries to do from the very beginning. We welcome Matt Hancock’s announcement of testing for symptomatic key workers and their […]
This week, Dr Jack Czauderna joins the podcast to talk about contract tracing and his upcoming coronavirus pilot study in Sheffield.
We deplore the involvement of Capita in the administration of retired doctors’ return to the NHS workforce. Reported delays of over two weeks to inclusion back on the performers’ list, while NHS 111 remains overwhelmed, are unacceptable. Valuable, willing expertise is being underused at a time of national crisis. Inexperienced call handlers are being recruited […]
It is not possible to undertake any meaningful planning for an exit strategy from the current lockdown without an understanding of COVID-19’s prevalence and our current levels of immunity. On April 2nd Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised to test 100,000 people daily by the end of the month. On that same day the UK was testing ten times […]
The basic principles of epidemiology are summarised by CDCD: count, divide, compare, then discuss differences. Unfortunately discussion of COVID-19 has widely ignored this approach. First, we must count something. Examples of things you might count include deaths, cases of disease, uses of a health service, occurrence of a symptom, or the presence of a risk […]
The UK government has asked the General Medical Council to contact doctors who have retired within the last six years and grant them temporary registration, a licence to practice and return to the GP performers list or secondary care equivalent. Without consulting the individuals concerned the GMC passed their details to local health services. Tens […]
Treatment without prejudice We believe that all people are of equal value. Whether old or young, rich or poor, disabled or not disabled, we all share a common humanity. This was true before the coronavirus pandemic, and it remains true today. Coronavirus is affecting different people in different ways. Many have a mild illness, but […]
Doctors in Unite 