Dr Chaand Nagpaul CBE, a Doctors in Distress trustee, discusses the pressures currently facing GPs, reducing the stigma surrounding mental health, and the role music plays in helping to support his wellbeing with Dr Catherine Wills, deputy head of advisory at the Medical Defence Union.
The UK government “lost control” of the covid pandemic in its early stages through poor testing infrastructure, a lack of public safety measures, and inadequate personal protective equipment, the BMA’s chair of council has told the UK’s public inquiry into the pandemic.
Philip Banfield said the lack of sufficient PPE and inadequate guidance on how to use it had contributed to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings. He was giving evidence to the inquiry’s second module,1 which is focusing on the decision making and political governance that shaped the UK’s response.
Banfield, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in North Wales who was working on wards throughout the pandemic, said that from the outset PPE shortages meant there was considerable lack of …
Whether it's setting up a Bank of England-type body to run it or fining patients for missing appointments, healthcare leaders, policymakers and practitioners past and present have a wealth of ideas about how they would change the NHS for the better.