"Daming” and “unforgivable failures” is how some papers headlines reacted to criticism of former UK prime minister Boris Johnson in the second of 10 reports from the UK Covid Inquiry.
Under pressure, in 2001 Boris Johnson announced a covid inquiry led by a former judge, Baroness Hallett. Each report is examining a different area of the pandemic's impact, and module 2 is about decision making and political governance.
The report describes inertia, toxic cultures, and an inability to learn lessons - disfunction that contributed to many extra deaths.
To dissect the report and discuss what needs to change, we're joined by;
Rebecca Coombes - The BMJ’s head of journalism
Kevin Fong - anaestatist and lead for major incident planning at University College Hospital
Matthew Flinders - Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Sheffield
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Climate, “car spreading”, and conflict
It’s the BMJ’s annual climate issue - and in this episode, we’ll be hearing about more ways in which climate mitigation is good for health.
Firstly, climate change is fuelling conflict, and exacerbating the impact it has on fragile healthcare systems. Andy Haines, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Barbora Sedova, from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, discuss how climate and conflict intersect, and what they think needs to be done to combat it.
“Car spreading”, the recent tendency for cars to become bigger and heavier is not only harming the climate, but it’s also harming pedestrians. Anthony Laverty, associate professor of public health at Imperial College London, and trauma surgeon Cleo Kenington explain why SUVs are more lethal in accidents, and why France is bucking the trend in sales.
Finally, Jocalyn Clark, the BMJ’s international editor joins us to talk about women’s health innovation and why tech bros aren’t the people to be leading it.
Reading list:
The climate issue: Brazil and the climate crisis
Tackling the complex links between climate change, conflict, and health
Reducing the harms from ever larger cars
Transforming women’s health through innovation
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Doctors against the far right
Far right rallies have been held across the UK, culminating in a large parade in London where Elon Musk spoke. At the same time, politicians from across the political spectrum are following the talking points of far right parties - and shifting their policies rightward, even the Labour home secretary has said she wishes to double the period migrants have to be in the UK before they can become citizens.
That has made a group of medics decide it’s time for doctors and other healthcare professionals to use their voice and speak up - against the demonisation of migrants into the UK, and for their fellow NHS staff. They are demanding that those in positions of power do so too.
Some of those medics join us on the podcast today;
Alistair Stewart, consultant psychiatrist in Manchester
Omnya Ahmed, resident doctor in London
Jordan Rivera, occupational therapist in London
Also this week, doctor, researcher, comedian and Matt Hutchinson is adding author to his list, and has released the book “Are You Really the Doctor? My Life as a Black Doctor in the NHS” - he joins Shivali Fulchand to talk about balancing all of this bits of his career - and how standup comedy has helped him maintain his career in the NHS.
Reading list
Everybody’s business: call to all NHS staff to oppose the influence of racism and the far right
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The shaky science of the Q-collar, exercise for osteoarthritis, and patient choice.
This week on the podcast
The BMJ investigates Q-COLLAR, an American device that distributors claim can reduce brain injury from contact sports. Investigators James Smoliga and Mu Yang take us through the evidence, and former NFL punter turned US bobsled team member Johnny Townsend explains what this means for sportspeople.
Bin Wang from Zhejiang University School of Medicine explains what the new network metaanalysis finds is the best exercise options for knee osteoarthritis
And, what our patient panel really think about “patient choice”.
links
How an FDA cleared “brain protection” device built on shaky science made it to the NFL
Comparative efficacy and safety of exercise modalities in knee osteoarthritis
The BMJ's patient and public partnership
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The difficulty of delirium diagnosis, the lack of agency in the 10 year plan, and Gaza wounds
In this episode of the podcast;
In July this year, the Government published their 10 year health plan for England - A new analysis just published on BMJ.com takes an in depth look at the chances of that plan succeeding, and where the government needs to focus time and resources. Bob Klaber, paediatrician and director of strategy, research and innovation at Imperial College Healthcare, and Helen Salisbury, GP and columnist for the BMJ join us to discuss.
Journalist Chris Stoker-Walker's grandfather suffered from delirium at the end of his life, but the journey to that diagnosis was difficult - Chris joins us to talk about the impact that had on his family, and Elizabeth Sampson, professor of liaison psychiatry from Queen Mary University of London, explains why it's under-researched.
Finally, we've been reporting from Gaza for 2 years, and it's been very difficult to get accurate information out of the region. However, new research published on bmj.com has surveyed medics there, to document the patterns of wounding in the civilian population - to improve the medical response to the conflict. Omar El-Taji and Ameer Ali, resident doctors in the NHS join us to explain what they found.
Reading list:
Delivering on the 10 year health plan for England
Why can’t we do anything about delirium?
Patterns of war related trauma in Gaza during armed conflict
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