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Abortion: ‘A caring service’
A BBC 5 radio programme has broadcast live from an abortion clinic, describing what happens to women…

Of course, nursing needs ‘compassion’
New nurses should be judged on their compassion not just their skills, according to Sir Keith Pearson,…

Assisted suicide deaths increase by 40% in one year in Washington State
The number of Washington state residents who died of physician-assisted suicide rose to 70 in 2011,…

Mum beats lung tumour after refusing to sacrifice her baby to save her own life
There is an inspiring story in the Daily Mail this morning about a 21 year old mother who beat cancer…

‘Beauty is more than what you look like’: mother’s inspiring video about her blind baby boy
A YouTube video that a young mother has created about her blind baby boy and his rare cleft palate…

BMA strike ballot – how should Christian doctors respond?
Today the BMA has begun to ballot members on whether to take industrial action over government pension…

New warnings on risks of popular infertility treatments
Hot on the heels of warnings last week about one in ten babies suffering birth defects after ICSI (intracytoplasmic…

Educating women is the key to lowering maternal mortality
The fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) put forward by the United Nations (MDG-5) proposes to reduce…

Phyllis Bowman, campaigner who led struggle against abortion and euthanasia, dies aged 85
The veteran British pro-life campaigner Phyllis Bowman has died aged 85.
Bowman, who was described…

New GMC & Stonewall leaflet on getting ‘discriminatory’ doctors struck off
The General Medical Council, the official regulatory body for doctors, has published a leaflet in conjunction…

A week with two good prayers and one bad one
I’ve just returned from a fantastic CMF National Conference at Swanwick on the theme 'heroes of faith'.…
David Fergusson wades in to defend Coleman over abortion mental health link
Priscilla Coleman’s recent meta-analysis showing a link between abortion and mental health problems not surprisingly has created a storm, coming as it did in the middle of the recent parliamentary debate over independent abortion counseling. Whilst the left wing press and the BBC chose to ignore it, other academics in the field have attempted to […]
VIDEO: Is ‘care’ the missing component in the NHS?
Today another damning report on nursing care standards has come out of the newly re-invigorated Care Quality Commission (CQC). In unannounced spot checks on care standards for the elderly at 100 NHS hospitals (focussing primarily on whether elderly patients were treated with respect and whether they were getting adequate and appropriate food and drink), they […]
A converted abortionist speaks from beyond the grave about guilt, faith and tactics
Bernard Nathanson, who died last February, was an American medical doctor from New York who helped to found the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, but later became a pro-life activist. His book ‘the Hand of God’ is the subject of a review in this week’s British Medical Journal, by Trevor Stammers, programme […]
Keeping faith with HIV
Religious, secular, governmental and international bodies came together at Lambeth Palace this week to discuss the impact and relevance of faith based responses to HIV and AIDS. In the face of an ongoing financial meltdown in the West, and collapsing economies in many developing nations, the sustained global effort to tackle the HIV pandemic has […]
General Medical Council considers changes to its guidance that could further restrict faith discussions
Pulse magazine reported last week that the General Medical Council is planning to ‘harden’ its guidance on religion in practice. The document Good Medical Practice (2006) is the core guidance to doctors and describes what is expected of all doctors registered with the GMC. Although the guidance is addressed to doctors, it is also intended […]
Tweeting the whole person – social networking for doctors
Pictured lying on resuscitation trolleys, ward floors and a helipad, seven A&E staff were suspended in 2009 from the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. It was alleged they were playing the ‘lying down game’ during a nightshift. How did they get caught? By posting photos of the stunt on Facebook. Alas for some, this blog […]
The San Jose Articles: saying ‘no’ to abortion as an International Human Right
Almost three-quarters of the world’s countries do not permit abortion for any reason. The Daily Telegraph this week claims that Britain is one of only 56 countries that do. However many of these countries are now finding themselves under increased pressure to liberalise their abortion laws, on the basis that there is an international right […]
New developments with the HPV jab for teenagers
Over the weekend The Guardian newspaper reported that pressure is being put on the Department of Health (DoH) to replace the current vaccine offered to all teenage girls to protect them from cervical cancer, with one that will also protect them against genital warts. The DoH decision, to be made in the next few weeks, […]
Time to change the channel – a submission to the government’s suicide prevention consultation
The Department of Health’s Consultation on its draft suicide prevention strategy for England closed yesterday (11 October). Over the past 10 years, there has been progress in reducing the already relatively low suicide rate in England. However, there were still nearly 4,400 suicides in England in 2009, the latest year for which national data is available. […]
Healthcare Sunday 2011 – praying for those working in health and medicine
Healthcare Sunday was set up over a decade ago as a way to help churches re-engage with health and medicine. For one Sunday every year we pray for, encourage and support those in the church who work in healthcare, and remember all those working in local health institutions. But the association of the Christian faith […]
More irresponsible suicide reporting by the media – there is a better way of dealing with this issue
The former chief inspector of schools, Chris Woodhead, has told how he has considered ending his life at Dignitas, the Swiss suicide facility, after being confined to a wheelchair by motor neurone disease. The hugely controversial head of Ofsted in the 90s claims to have been influenced in this decision by the recent BBC ‘documentary’ […]
Donors’ desires trump patient safety
A paper and accompanying editorial in this week’s BMJ seem to mark a new low in the erosion of patient safety in favour of political correctness. Since the 2009 BMJ head to head debate on whether the lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have had sex with men (MSM) should be lifted, the […]