Medicine and Science from The BMJ

Last week saw the start of a campaign to publish patient death rates for individual surgeons. Bruce Keogh, medical director of the NHS in England, talks to BMJ editor in chief Fiona Godlee about the initiative and the background to it. Also, the WHO has launched its Guidelines and Global Progress in HIV/AIDs report. Anne Gulland interviews Gottfried Hirnschall, a Director of the WHO’s HIV/AIDS Dep...

This week a head to head article asks: "Does adding routine antibiotics to animal feed pose a serious risk to human health? The authors David Wallinga, a physician member of the steering committee of Keep Antibiotics Working: the Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse in Animal Agriculture, and David Burch, a veterinarian and consultant on antibiotic use in agriculture from Octagon Services, argue the...

This week, we look at how to help patients have better deaths at home. BMJ assistant editor Sophie Cook talks to Emily Collis, a consultant in palliative medicine and the author of a recent clinical review about caring for dying patients in the community. BMJ columnist Des Spence, a GP in Glasgow, explains why the dying deserve better from GPs.

Blood transfusion is an essential part of modern healthcare and can be lifesaving when used appropriately. In this podcast, Sophie Cook, The BMJ's clinical reviews editor, talks to Michael Murphy, consultant haematologist and professor of blood transfusion medicine at NHS Blood and Transplant at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, about best practice for the safety of patients receiving blood; in...

Plain packaging on tobacco products is the latest strategy aimed at reducing smoking. Campaigners had hoped the UK would follow Australia’s example. But they have been disappointed as the UK government postpones the plans until “more evidence” is available. We hear from Linda Bauld, professor of public policy at the University of Stirling, about why she thinks the current evidence is convincing en...