
blogs


Does abortion reduce mental health risks for women? The very latest research
Assessing the effect of abortion on women’s mental health is complex, controversial and findings are…

Paul Lamb’s tragic personal circumstances must not blind us to the deadly consequences of his attempt to undermine the murder law
A 57 year-old man, who was almost entirely paralysed in a road accident 23 years ago, is now seeking…

Doctor who killed seven new-born babies by cutting their spinal cords with scissors may face death penalty
The Daily Telegraph (see here and here) has this week run the story of a US abortionist who is facing…

Stunning 4,620% increase in Belgian euthanasia cases in ten years since legalisation
I have previously highlighted the rapid escalation of euthanasia and assisted suicide cases in the Netherlands,…

Engineering our way to a Eugenic Future
You may consider the following headline from a leading US newspaper blog last week to be rather extreme:
‘The…

The NHS, culture change, and Christ
Jeremy Hunt does not have an enviable job. Not only is he charged with putting into practice the radical…

The GMC’s new guidance on ‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’ – how effectively does it address our concerns?
The General Medical Council published its new guidance on‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’…

New GMC Guidance on ‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’ still gives scope for sensitive faith discussions within the consultation
Are doctors allowed to discuss their personal beliefs with patients or enquire about their patients’…

Doctors should identify themselves online and respect colleagues and professional boundaries, says GMC
The General Medical Council (GMC), the regulatory body for doctors, has today published advice on doctors’…

World TB Day
One hundred and thirty one years ago today, Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacillus that…

Do you have just one minute spare to help defend the human embryo?
Thanks to a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) there is a new campaign across Europe which seeks to…
COVID-19: an opportunity for sharing Christ with a world searching for answers
Christians are called to be representatives of Christ, not just in their homes but also within their workplaces. This means that Christian healthcare professionals working within secular institutions must navigate the challenging tensions between spiritual and professional commitments. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting them with unique circumstances for Christian healthcare workers to share the […]
The Nightingale Legacy
With the news just over a week ago that the London Nightingale Hospital was to be ‘mothballed’ as no new COVID-19 cases were expected to need the facility in the foreseeable future, it is ironic that today we celebrate the institution’s namesake’s 200th birthday. One wonders what Florence Nightingale would have thought of the temporary hospital […]
Social care and COVID-19: crisis or opportunity?
If a week is a long time in politics in normal times, then at the moment two years can feel like a geological epoch! In January 2018, we welcomed the explicit inclusion of social care into the name of the former Department of Health, making it the Department of Health and Social Care. Social care, […]
Coping with loneliness in lockdown
Over the past few weeks, the world has changed drastically. What was once considered normal, such as spending the afternoon in the park with friends, may now be considered a criminal offence. Our way of life, work and church have all had to change and adapt in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic. While […]
Palliative care and COVID-19
I didn’t pay much attention to them at first. The news stories about Wuhan and the Facebook posts from Christians there asking for prayer. I probably said a few ‘arrow prayers’ but didn’t really engage. It was all far away, and it wouldn’t ever impact us. I’m sorry, Lord. I’m challenged to widen my circle […]
Coping with loss of control
We are used to a sense of control over our lives and our day to day decisions. I can choose when to go to the shops, what colour to paint my house, what plants to plant in the garden. I can choose what level of risk I’d like to take: whether it is the speed […]
Some biblical answers to suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, people and physicians around the world are facing trials of many kinds: the threat of illness, the death of loved ones, scarcity of health care resources, and the loss of patients. As Christians, the experience of suffering can cause us to ask difficult questions: How can an all-powerful, […]
Uncertainty: our new normality
We’ve heard a lot about how Covid-19 affects the lungs, often catastrophically. But what about the heart? This disease can expose issues of the heart we have been blissfully unaware of, and that can be painful. The pandemic has disfigured life as we knew it in the UK, and our ‘normality’ is now characterised by […]
‘Green zones’ for the vulnerable may be a cheap and effective option for preventing coronavirus spread in low-resource settings
The US and Western Europe have so far been the hardest hit by the coronavirus with over 80 per cant of cases worldwide – but there’s good reason to think that the Developing World will ultimately suffer most. According to a recent report, 40 million lives may be at risk this year (see my previous […]
Mental hygiene during coronavirus
The Coronavirus pandemic is turning almost every part of life upside down, both in and out of work. And one of my greatest concerns as this pandemic unfolds is the effect it will have on the mental health of clinicians. As a Senior House Officer in Accident and Emergency (A&E), who suffers from pre-existing depression, […]
Compassion, faith and hope: preparing for COVID19 among refugees in the Bekaa Valley
Susan is a Northern Ireland trained GP who sensed God was calling her to serve overseas. Having connected with CMF a couple of years ago, she came on our Developing Health Course and said ‘I have found my tribe‘ -people who had a heart for the same things as she did. What Susan did not […]
The Developing World and not the West will bear the brunt of coronavirus
With 80 per cent of coronavirus deaths in Western Europe and the US, the focus of the world’s media has understandably been there. The UK alone has seen over 5,000 deaths to date, and rate of new deaths being reported is doubling roughly every three days. But COVID-19 is affecting 199 countries and territories around the world. […]