
blogs


Euthanasia bills fall at first hurdle
Last November I reported on the overwhelming defeat in the Scottish Parliament of Margo Macdonald’s…

The ‘ultrasound’ Jesus reminds us of the meaning of the incarnation
The creators of the 2010 ‘Christmas Starts With Christ' campaign say that its purpose is to bring attention…

How common is abortion to save the life of the mother?
Ireland’s ban on abortion was upheld this week by the European Court of Human Rights in a case brought…

A new exhibition touring the United States is highlighting lessons to be learned from the Nazi doctors
Most when remembering the holocaust will think of six million Jews but apparently this was only the final…

Two letters to the Times regarding Lord Falconer’s Commission on Assisted Dying
I have had two letters regarding Lord Falconer's Commission on Assisted Dying published on the Times…

Former Lord Chancellor misrepresents law on assisted suicide in national newspaper
Yesterday the Care Not Killing Alliance wrote to Lord Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor (pictured),…

ICMDA HIV Initiative 2010 Dignity and Right to Health Awards
The joint winners of the 2010 Dignity and Right to Health award are Dr Gisela Schneider from Germany…

More knowledge of fetal development leads to new US laws making late abortion illegal
In April this year the US state of Nebraska legislature signed off a bill that could weaken further the…

Chile’s president says country’s respect for life mandated great efforts to save lives of Chilean miners
I see that 26 of the rescued Chilean miners have just been welcomed to Manchester United by football…

As Christian doctors today let’s, like Nehemiah, be people of prayer and perseverance
Nehemiah was the key figure, along with Ezra, who was used by God in the fifth century BC to help bring…

Further stem cell advance brings clinical trials with ethically produced embryonic-like stem cells one step closer
Ethical stem cell treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis…
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. […]