Author: Philip Broadbent, Wellcome Multimorbidity PhD Fellow & Public Health Registrar, University of Glasgow

shutterstock Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock What happens when the NHS is hit by an emergency it cannot predict? A heatwave can send thousands more people to hospital. A power cut can put patients who depend on electricity at risk. A cyber-attack can suddenly knock out systems that hospitals rely on to function. Government officials told reporters at the […]

People in a hospital waiting room. toodtuphoto/Shutterstock.com Amid political upheaval and the subsequent resignation of the health secretary, the king’s speech unveiled the NHS modernisation bill – the most significant overhaul of the health service in more than a decade. By legally abolishing NHS England and bringing operational management directly into Whitehall, ministers say they […]

By twelve votes, the Scottish parliament rejected the assisted dying for terminally ill adults bill on March 17. The debate that preceded it was emotionally charged and, at moments, genuinely moving. MSPs spoke of parents, partners, faith and fear. Much of it turned on the contents of the bill – safeguards, eligibility criteria and conscience […]

Two young people are dead and 20 are receiving treatment after a meningitis outbreak at the University of Kent. The students caught up in it belong to a generation that has never been routinely vaccinated against the strain responsible. That is not because a vaccine doesn’t exist. It does. Bexsero, which protects against meningococcal group […]