NHS
How many people have swum the Channel?
Journey’s end Holidaymakers are being flown home after travel company Thomas Cook failed. The idea might have horrified the company’s…
Watching Stephen Fry was like being in the presence of a god
Stephen Fry lies prone on an empty stage. A red ball rolls in from the wings and bashes him in…
How Boris can make the extra cash for the NHS really count
It would be daft for someone to offer you £1.8 billion and you turn it down. That sort of money…
I’m a doctor, and tried the new GP app. My experience was terrifying
Everyone agrees something dramatic has to be done to help the NHS. It is crumbling and the canary in the…
From the NHS to Bayreuth: Norman Lebrecht talks to midwife-turned-opera singer Catherine Foster
Every summer for the past six years, Bayreuth has risen to its feet to acclaim an English Brünnhilde. Catherine Foster,…
Is your doctor faking it?
Last October, Phil Coleman, a journalist on the Carlisle-based News & Star, went to cover the trial of Zholia Alemi,…
Playing chicken: Trade deals with the US will make Britain stronger
Why is it that free trade, which almost everyone agrees is good when conducted with other European countries, suddenly becomes…
Proton therapy: Cancer revolution or costly white elephant?
It’s Asco week in Chicago: the biggest meeting of clinical oncologists in the world. McCormick Place convention centre, the largest…
The NHS clearly wishes I would just naff off
The receptionist fixed me with a withering stare. I had just filled out a repeat prescription form and politely inquired…
The NHS’s CBT mailshot is a scandal
A leaflet came through my door from the NHS inviting me to take part (if that is the right term)…
Letters: The Brexit chaos isn’t David Cameron’s fault
About the Bible Sir: I was confirmed by Richard Holloway as a schoolboy at Fettes College, and then taught by…
Arthritis, nerve pain and chronic fatigue: my life with Lyme disease
Some medical experts claim that Lyme disease is worse than cancer. It’s not a competition, but I do know one…
The massive NHS plan to record every single person’s DNA
‘Gene test for sale on NHS,’ blared the headlines last weekend, sparking some anxiety and confusion. The story is that…
Could it be that Jimmy McGovern was getting into the festive spirit? No… Care reviewed
Jimmy McGovern’s one-off drama Care (BBC1, Sunday 9 December) began with a loving grandmother called Mary having a lovely time…
Education, spiritual guidance and a good cappuccino: the new face of the NHS
Left at the Dementia Café, right at the Sleep Office, past the Spiritual Care Centre… This was my journey through…
History will judge UK ministers harshly for the Irish backstop
We may or may not hear news soon of a settlement of the Irish border issue that will allow Brexit…
The NHS is teaching me how to stand properly
If you are wondering, any more than usual, how your tax is being spent, you should know that I have…
The NHS must reform – or it will become obsolete
Since the Budget, economists have pointed out that Britain is turning into a health service with a government attached. The…
What the NHS does now, Babylon did first
Financial constraints combined with a shortage of staff have brought the NHS to a situation so desperate that it is…
Who hires the most stretch limos?
Global warnings How much time do we have to save the world from catastrophic climate change? 5 years (according to…
Full of bog-standard, if annoyingly effective, emotional manipulation: The Foreign Doctors Are Coming reviewed
Surprising I know, but judging from The Foreign Doctors Are Coming (Channel 4, Tuesday), Britain mightn’t be such a bad…
One of Alan Bennett’s finest efforts: Allelujah! reviewed
Alan Bennett’s new play, Allelujah!, is an NHS drama set in a friendly hospital in rural Yorkshire. Colin, an ambitious…
Carmakers holding back investment in Britain is not just about Brexit
Technical issues Sir: Martin Vander Weyer’s supposition that car manufacturers are holding back investment due to Brexit seems to be…
What happened to the teams who scored more than six goals in a World Cup?
Nursing numbers Was there ever a time when the NHS wasn’t in crisis? According to a report by NHS Health…
The internal logic of the NHS makes it ruthlessly cold-hearted
Gordon Brown, echoing Aneurin Bevan, says that the greatest gift that the NHS brings to people is ‘serenity’. He is…
