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There is an old joke that says the light at the end of the tunnel may actually be another train coming to run you over! , It can feel like that at the moment when we're firmly in the third wave of Covid; though vaccination has made a huge difference, who...
'Doctors Drop Opposition to Assisted Dying!' were the predictable headlines when the British Medical Association (BMA) narrowly voted to move from 'opposition' to 'neutrality' on 'assisted dying, including physician-assisted dying' (PAD), at its online Annual Representatives' Meeting (ARM) on 14 September. [1] The vote was incredibly close, with just four votes...
Navigating transition is often challenging and risky. Whether it's coming off a slip road onto a motorway, stepping into a rowing boat, or transferring a sick patient between intensive care units, that point of transition between one settled state and another can have disastrous consequences if not managed wisely. Even harder...
I never expected to end up behind bars. One day in 2009 while working as a salaried GP, an email came round from the practice manager. Our large practice had got a contract at a medium-secure forensic psychiatric hospital, and they needed a GP to do a couple of physical...
Those who are regulars at the CMF National Conference will remember the Rendle Short Lecture (RSL) that has been a feature of Saturday afternoons there for many years. In fact, Prof John Wyatt's RSL in 2019 was the 60th such lecture. The change in format of CMF National Conferences for...
Pressure to legalise assisted suicide continues. The BMA members' poll, taken in February 2020 but only released in October 2020, is very significant, representing the views of 29,000 BMA members. As noted at the time: '40 per cent of respondents wanted the BMA to actively support attempts to change the...
Review by Mark PickeringCMF Chief Executive The British Medical Association (BMA) held its annual meeting on 15 September. Usually a four-day residential event with 600 delegates, it was reduced to one day online due to COVID. Much debate focussed on urgent COVID-related issues, but there was also a helpful open session...
It's an odd time to be planning for the future, when COVID means that organising holidays, weddings or conferences feels like pinning the tail on a moving donkey whilst blindfolded. CMF has completed its current five-year plan, ACTIVE 2020, and along with responding to all the specific challenges of this year,...
It's hard to predict what shape the world will be in by the time CMF News hits your doormats. As I write in late March, schools and restaurants are closed, supermarkets are rationing to limit panic buying, and those over 70 are self-isolating for three months. Borders are closing around...
The BBC recently found that the National Health Service receives around 10,000 clinical negligence claims each year and currently expects to pay £4.3bn for these. This sum is a significant chunk of the total NHS budget, which was £129bn in 2018-19. [1] The amounts involved are growing. In 2017 the National...
