Welcome
Hello. I am a GP in Glasgow and write the Second Opinion column in the FT magazine. My column used to be in the FT Weekend Life and Arts Section, and can be found here www.ft.com/mccartney.
I am hoping that this blog will be a forum for discussion of some of the myriad problems in healthcare, especially the ones that I think don’t always get a fair hearing – and some that don’t get heard much at all outside of the corridors of the NHS.
For example, some of my recurrent concerns are: Why do we so often ignore the evidence for what healthcare interventions work and what don’t? Does continuity of care matter? Is there any proof that market based provision of healthcare is more efficient? Is the National Institute for Clinical Excellence an example of rational rationing or does it just ascribe a financial worth to life? Should people ever use complementary therapies? Who are independent sources of healthcare information? Why are pharmaceutical companies not legally compelled to publish all of their clinical trial data? Should patients trust doctors? Are there any checkups worth having? Are the results of clinical trials fairly reported in the popular media? How should doctors ethically use the placebo effect? Is there such a thing as modern medical professionalism? Are private finance initiatives truly the biggest waste of money the NHS is bankrolling? Is patient satisfaction a good measure of how good a doctor is? Should universities ever employ PR firms to publicise medical research findings? Is the NHS “a gift economy”? Is it ethical for pharmacists to sell ‘treatments’ that have no, or little, basis in evidence? Can nurses do a doctor’s job better?
I am, you’ll be glad to know, not planning to answer all at once. I am, though, planning to update the blog a couple of times a week, and you can subscribe to an RSS feed here http://feeds.feedburner.com/ft/mccartney.
And so that I am being honest about my own biases; here they are. I believe whole heartedly in the ethos of the NHS. I get extremely, coffee-spillingly irritated when the radio is on and I hear politicians meddling and muddling in the NHS (again). I get upset when people are misled into overhyped hopes. I hope, and think that most health professionals are motivated by vocation and that most hold to professional values.
Thank you for visiting
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a CPN in Plymouth working Out of Hours; crisis resolution, assessments & so on. I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading the FT Second Opinion & cut out ‘This way madness lies’ & put in the team book to give it a wider viewing. Also ‘Following the script’ references to the over medicalization of personality [u suggest the funky, bi-polar type 2], Borderline Personality Disorder is another one that is very popular. I’m afraid the condition of over medicalization is rife. Opening the Peninsular Medical School down here has not helped. The increase in psychiatrists to give exeperince & train up the students has opened the flood gates to spurious prescriptions & treatments to spurious conditions. All very popular with patients as well as Drs, I might add.
The announcement that Aspergers/autism can be diagnosed by a scan will unleash a flood of requests for referrals in a search for a role in life & an excuse & DLA. No interventions for Aspergers/autism is available in my area via the NHS; education, networking & self help are the best ways forward for mosts psychological ‘conditions’.
I lookforwards to u returning to the subject of the medicine-life interface, & bang the drum.
best wishes
Jeff
Has the Penny Mellor thread been removed?
If so is there a reason?
hello
there were nasty comments which kept on coming under different email addresses (hence I can’t just block them.) The quickest thing to do was to remove the thread -sorry. If I can work out a way to close the thread or stop unhelpful (to say the least) comments I will put it back up again.
Just an observation regarding oral health. I have been a lifetime toothbrusher and a regular attender for dental check-ups, Unfortunately, my dentist is an enthusiastic driller-and-filler resulting in, as I aged, fillings falling out leaving me with a set of crumbling molars. Last year this feature resulted in me having six weeks in hospital with Infective Endocarditis, during which I almost lost the plot due to getting a cardiac arrest on top of the IE. My dentist was aware of my cardiac history (five heart-attacks and a quadruple CABG) so she should, I think, have been aware of the bother the state of my teeth could cause. It isn’t that long since dentists gave a precautionary antibiotic to ‘at risk’ patients. I now carry a card issued by the American Heart Association warning health professionals of my potential exposure to IE. I certainly don’t want to get that illness again.
Sincerely,
Alan Lyne
Carlisle CA5 7DP
Cumbria