The Nationality and Borders Bill [1] currently passing through both Houses of Parliament is promoted as a means of stopping small boats from crossing the channel and of breaking up the gangs of people smugglers. The Bill also contains clauses to create prison-like conditions for asylum seekers, holding them away...
Few issues have created such division among health professionals as Covid vaccine mandates. While most NHS staff freely accepted vaccination and are strong advocates for it with their patients and colleagues, a small minority (about five to six per cent) [1] have thus far refused vaccination. Even when the Government...
Shock and disbelief were my first two reactions when I awoke on 24 February to the news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. Horror as I saw residential buildings across the country bombed. Outrage as civilians were trapped by shelling in cities to the south and east of the country. Compassion...
Data is the new gold - the most valuable commodity in the digital world, and the NHS holds a vast amount of this asset. Data about almost every British resident's medical history, demographics, and healthcare interactions. This information is estimated to be worth nearly £10 billion, according to Ernst &...
The traditional image of Florence Nightingale is that of a willowy woman with a white bonnet, dark dress and miraculously clean pinafore, carrying a lamp aloft, mopping fevered brows of adoring, injured soldiers as she walked her rounds at Scutari Hospital. The 'Lady of the Lamp' of popular mythology was...
Whatever the origin of our calling to medicine, nursing or midwifery, one thing we would all agree, as Christians and as health professionals, is that we are required to do the best by our patients, our colleagues and the institutions for which we work. Preferably in that order of priority....
Where is God in a Coronavirus World? John C Lennox , The Good Book Company, 2020, £2.54, 63pp, ISBN: 9781784985691Coronavirus and Christ John Piper , Desiring God, 2020, £4.99, 112pp, ISBN: 9781433573590Virus as a Summons to Faith Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Uncertainty Paternoster Walter Bruggeman ,...
Heidi Crowter, a young woman with Down's syndrome, is taking out a landmark case against the UK Government over its current abortion law, which allows abortion up to birth for Down syndrome. [1] Arguing that both the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [2] and the Disability Rights...
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. (John 12:3) We are very goal orientated in the health professions at times. That's not a bad thing, but as resources get squeezed, and workloads go...
In August it was reported that the UK, along with four other EU nations, had lost its 'measles-free' status. (1) The government response included calls for social media campaigns to counter the misinformation of so-called 'anti-vaxxers', greater public awareness and vaccine reminder campaigns. At one point, Health Secretary Matt Hancock...