Medicine and Science from The BMJ

Anne Hicks, is an emergency medicine consultant in Plymouth, and for 16 years was the medical director for the British Antarctic Survey (she stepped down last year). The British Antarctic Survey operates all through the antarctic winter - where for 90 days, the sun sets and plunges their base into cold and darkness. So who better to give us some advice on coping with the strict covid-19 rules duri...

As the first vaccine for corona virus is approved, and England joins the other nations of the UK outside of full lockdown, we are all entering tiers of restrictions - variable across the country, which will continue until that vaccine coverage is enough to slow transmission in the community. In this podcast, Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of The BMJ, talks to Matt Morgan, a consultant in a intensiv...

The government has decided to pursue a strategy of mass-testing in Liverpool, in a pilot to see what effect that has on containment of corona virus. A lot of criticism has been levelled at the scheme, from the sensitivity of the lateral flow test used, to whether this is screening and should be referred to the national screening committee to be evaluated. Calum Semple, professor of child health an...

The BMJ is a champion of openness and transparency in research, in clinical practice and in health policy. However, if you’ve kept and eye on the journals recently, you’ll have seen that governments have been less diligent about keeping an eye on competing interests than they should be. In this podcast we’re joined by Jolyon Maugham QC - one of the founding members of the Good Law Project, who hav...

As further promising news emerges of vaccine effectiveness, although still with no data published, and as plans emerge for the return home of university students and limited festive winter celebrations. But as we talked about in the last podcast, there needs to be a concerted effort to re-centre patients and the public within the decisions made about how the NHS will treat covid patients and those...

Uncertainty abounds - even as we get better data on treatments, with the big RCTs beginning to report, and new trials on masks, the evidence remains uncertain, in both the statistical realm (confidence intervals crossing 0) and in what to do in the face of that continuing lack of clear effect. As always Helen Macdonald and Duncan Jarvies are looking at the evidence, and this week are joined by Joh...

Clare Gerada and Zaid Al-Najjar have been treating doctors for a while now, through the NHS Practitioner Programme. In that time they have noticed some themes in the issues that bring doctors to them, from isolation to stress. In this podcast they reflect on what they've learned about the problems that affect doctors, and how covid-19 has exacerbated some, and surprisingly reduced others. Their bo...

Covid-19 continues its grip on the Northern Hemisphere alongside news of a vaccine trial showing real success at first glance. In this second wave update, we explore the latest issues with healthcare professionals from primary care, secondary care, and public health, and discuss what is happening in their field, and put their questions to experts. In this podcast, Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of...

In the first wave of covid-19, hospitals started to reconfigure space and services, to provide rest areas and food for staff, to help them cope with the surge in patients. Michael West, professor professor of work and organisational psychology at Lancaster University Management School, returns to the podcast to talk about how well those changes helped staff - and what needs to be done, now that a...

Covid-19 continues its grip on the Northern Hemisphere alongside news of a vaccine trial showing real success at first glance. In this second wave update, we explore the latest issues with healthcare professionals from primary care, secondary care, and public health, and discuss what is happening in their field, and put their questions to experts. In this podcast, Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of...

A lump in the throat is a classic GP presentation, but one that often causes a lot of worry. Many people are struggling with high levels of anxiety anyway at the moment, and this may manifest physical symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia and dysphagia. In this week’s episode, we discuss how to differentiate between causes of a lump in the throat: is my patient experiencing laryngopharyngeal reflux,...

As the second spike in covid-19 cases grows, we want to take stock of what's happening in the NHS. In these second wave updates, clinicians from primary care, secondary care, and public health, discuss what is happening in their field, and put questions to experts. In this podcast, Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of The BMJ talks to Matt Morgan, consultant in intensive care medicine in Cardiff and H...

In this talk evidence covid-19 update, we’re taking on risk - how do you figure out your individual risk of dying from the disease? Try QCovid, but remember that it’s figuring out your risk back in April. When it comes to talking about risk, very few people actually engage with the number, so Alex Freeman from the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge joi...

Chris Whitty probably needs no introduction to our UK audience - he's the chief medical advisor to the UK government, has played a pivotal role in shaping the country's response to Covid-19. He rarely does interviews - so in this conversation we wanted to ask him the questions that matter to clinicians, about how the pandemic will impact them over the winter. This was recorded yesterday, just befo...

As the world sees an upsurge in infections, this "second wave" feels different to the first - we have a much better understanding of the biology of the virus, in hospitals, guidelines for treatment have been rapidly developed... and the pipeline of research to improve that has been created.  But a lot of questions remain - particularly about the dynamics of the spread of respiratory viruses. Which...

Personality disorder is often referred to as the “Cinderella” diagnosis of mental health. Around 1 in 20 people is estimated to have a personality disorder, and it is a neglected and under-resourced area of our healthcare system. In this week’s episode, we discuss the stigma surrounding personality disorder, which can often manifest itself in high levels of anxiety for both patients and GPs, when...

As the second spike in covid-19 cases grows, we want to take stock of what's happening in the NHS. In these second wave updates, clinicians from primary care, secondary care, and public health, discuss what is happening in their field, and put questions to experts. In this podcast, Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of The BMJ talks to Matt Morgan, consultant in intensive care medicine in Cardiff and H...

The "second wave" of covid is hitting the UK, and clinicians are anticipating a spike in demand in the NHS. The inevitability of that is weighing on NHS staff's minds. In this podcast, Cormac Doyle, a retired senior army officer, who specialises in military mental health/ veterans and support other with psychological trauma, returns to the podcast to talk about his experience of deployment in the...

As the economic fall out of covid-19 starts to bite, attention is turning to how the state can support everyone - especially if the pandemic turns into a depression. Universal basic income, and a jobs guarantee are two of the potential mechanisms a country could deploy, both with different effects on people's health and wellbeing. In this podcast, Martin Hensher, associate professor of health syst...

Persistent coughing in children is always a challenge, both for parents trying to describe and measure the cough, and for doctors making a diagnosis. In the current climate, this is all the more difficult, seeing as a continual cough is one of the major symptoms of COVID-19. UK Government guidance advises that anyone with a persistent cough should get a coronavirus test. But with the reopening of...

In this Talk Evidence covid-19 update, Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham gives us an update on testing technology. Will the point of care tests make a different to big live events, and how research and regulation need to change to tame the testing wild west. Paul Glasziou, professor of evidence based practice at at Bond University has set up a new collaboration...

David Pencheon, Renee Salas and Ed Maibach join us to talk about how healthcare can, and should, take leadership on climate change. With a few exceptions, the healthcare industry lags behind in efforts to reduce carbon emissions - in this podcast, we'll discuss why that is, why now is the time to take decarbonisation seriously, and why Covid-19 is a hindrance, but also a potential pivot point for...

With the annual flu season looming, GPs are anticipating a frenzy of vaccinations, perhaps more so than ever this year. As so many 'flu and respiratory viruses circulate every year, and as the 'flu vaccine is for one strain of influenza only, is the vaccine worth getting, and what are the risks associated with vaccinating vs. not vaccinating? In this week’s episode, we discuss the high vaccine upt...

This episode was recorded on 18 September - just before the news came out about the new lockdown measures. We’ll hear Carl and Helen’s thoughts, but we also want to hear a broad range of views - so get in touch at bmj.com/podcasts. (1.15) The kids are back in school, and people are worried about the infection spreading. Helen takes us through the ISCARIC data on children's symptoms and outcomes fr...

Nudging seemed to be all the rage a few years ago - a way of changing individual behaviours to help people make better choices, about their diet, exercise and other habits. A lot of hype ensued, the UK government under Tony Blair even set up a “nudge unit” - but questions were asked about the efficacy of the approaches used, confusion about what a nudge actually was, and how to turn it into actual...