Since the chief medical officer for England first introduced the term expert patient, it has
been picked up and used very widely. 1 During this time, the notion of the expert patient …

The notion of being concerned with the interests of patients is not new. It is as old as
medicine. What is new, or relatively new, is the question of how that concern is best dealt …

Most doctors believe medicine to be a force for good. Why else would they have become
doctors? Yet while all know medicine's power to harm individual patients and whole …

A hundred years ago George Bernard Shaw lambasted the medical profession as a
conspiracy against the laity. 1 Today, disease and doctor centric health systems that are …

Being confronted with a patient who has done a literature search, scanned the internet,
made a provisional diagnosis, and knows what he or she wants from the health service is no …

Objectives: To explore the reasons why general practitioners do not always implement best
evidence. Design: Qualitative study using Balint-style groups. Setting: Primary care …

The meteoric shower of medicine's scientific achievements can overwhelm a doctor's mind.
A patient has no assurance that his or her doctor is able to take into account all relevant …

“There'sa burst water main causing problems on the A146 in Lowestoft; the M25 is busy in a
counterclockwise direction between the M40 and the M4.” Despite the wonders of modern …

“Too much testing of well people and not enough care for the sick worsens health
inequalities and drains professionalism, harming both those who need treatment and those …

The public and the government have both identified ''more staff” as a way of improving the
NHS. 1 Problems with recruitment and retention in nursing and allied health professions and …