NHS
Diary
To the dentist. And for an extraction. I hadn’t had a tooth out in decades. But the twinges when I…
Call me insane, but I’m voting Labour
Quite often when I deliver myself of an opinion to a friend or colleague, the reply will come back: ‘Are…
Portrait of the week
Home Tony Blair, the former prime minister, opposed a referendum on membership of the EU. In a speech at Sedgefield…
The actor-commentariat
I’ve never been terribly keen on actors. I prefer hairdressers and accountants. And teachers and builders and lawyers. I may…
Healthy ambition
Andy Burnham on the NHS, ‘mainstream Labour’ and his party’s leadership
Healing the NHS
To adapt Aeschylus’s aphorism on war and truth, the first casualty in a general election campaign is objectivity. Over the…
Real life
My request to see my medical notes was granted in the end. I honestly don’t know why I wanted to…
Let Greece go
To listen to Greek government ministers addressing the outside world during their breaks from negotiations with eurozone leaders this week,…
The NHS needs the politics of envy
‘Let’s make the rich pay more.’ Does that sound so right-wing? To me it has a positively socialist ring. It…
Would you put your life in the care of Dr Droid?
There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…
I guess I have to apologise for the state of the National Health Service
Oh, I see. So it’s my fault. There I was, thinking that the general swamping and near collapse of accident…
An unhealthy consensus
There’s an irony about Ukip’s rise. Nigel Farage party’s popularity is driven by a widespread sense that the main parties…
Bitter medicine
Pity the healthcare professionals who dare to speak out about NHS problems
Portrait of the week
Home The government spent days announcing how the Autumn Statement would allocate funds. ‘Frontline’ parts of the National Health Service…
This Chancellor is a most political animal
Autumn Statements lack the drama and traditions of the Budget. Gladstone never delivered one, there is no Autumn Statement box…
A dose of good sense
Each year the Reith Lectures come round as Radio 4’s annual assertion of intellectual authority, fulfilling the BBC’s original aspiration…
Old, vulnerable and hungry
The reality for elderly patients in NHS hospitals
We should worry about Ebola in Africa, not here
Got Ebola yet? Early symptoms are very difficult to distinguish from either winter flu or, indeed, a particularly bad hangover.…
How to fix the NHS
A doctor’s prescription
Letters
Breaking the unions Sir: By the time this letter appears we shall know whether the land of my birth has…
Real life
‘Let me get this straight,’ I said, looking my Slovakian friend in the eye. ‘You are going to go back…
Parenting? Leave it to the bureaucrats
My first act upon returning from my holiday was to sign the online petition to have the supremely irritating children’s…
Barometer
Not in their name The BBC decided to start calling the Islamic terror group Isis by the acronym IS instead.…
Escape to Burgundy
There have been some splendid rumours about my health. According to the most exotic, I was cas-evacked from a hill…
Letters
Poor treatment Sir: Jane Kelly’s article (‘No tea or sympathy’, 2 August) on the lack of empathy and emotional support…
