REGULARS
NEWS1:
HIV IGNORANCE AND PREVALENCE REVEALED
NEWS2:
GOVERNMENT PLANS GP CLINICS FOR “ON THE GO”
NEWS3:
LEADING JUDGE OUTLINES LEGAL ROLE IN “RIGHT TO LIFE” CASES
NEWS4:
OPPOSITION mounts OVER “HEART CHART”
NEWS5:
POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES
NEWS6:
COOK ISSUES PRIVATE SECTOR warning
NEWS7:
No mental health bill in Queen’s Speech
NEWS8:
No smoking across the border
NEWS9:
REID PLEDGES REDUCTION IN MRSA
NEWS10:
STUDY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT CJD RISKS
QUARTERLY CHECKUP
Appointments and Committees
Diary
SPECIAL FOCUS ON LVADS
What becomes of the broken hearted?
Alison Shaw explains how the shortage of donor organs for transplantation is making new surgical technologies and specialist rehabilitation essential for heart patients
Alison Shaw
LVADs and the human heart
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub explains the relevance of LVADS to the community
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub
Brave new world
Dr Steven Tsui asks for a wider understanding of options open to end-stage heart failure patients and weights the risks and benefits of using ventricular assist devices
Steven Tsui
PRE-OPERATIVE ASSESSMENT
Risky business
Helen Luery, Eddie Chaloner, Hugh Montgomery and Monty Mythen discuss the role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in the evaluation of the surgical patient
Helen Luery, Eddie Chaloner, Hugh Montgomery, Professor Monty Mythen
SOLIDIERS' HEALTH
Bombs, Bullets and Bandages
The unsung heroes of the OP TELIC 4a UK Medical Group are providing world-class medicine in difficult conditions in Iraq, writes Dr Martin Deahl
Colonel Martin Deahl L/RAMC(V)
The fog of war
Mike Hancock MP repeats his calls for an independent inquiry into Gulf War Syndrome
Mike Hancock
Riding The Storm
As a sick and disabled Gulf War veteran, Justin Harvey comments on the continuing debate over Gulf War syndrome
Justin Harvey
More R&D than cloak and dagger
Robert Key MP argues that despite its lurid reputation, work done at Porton Down is essential to the welfare of British troops
Robert Key is MP
TWO-TIER CONTRACTS IN THE NHS
Tenuous tenders
New deals affecting privately contracted workers in the NHS will be problematic to implement for the businesses involved, warns Norman Rose
Norman Rose
Clean Slate
John Carvel debates the issues surrounding two-tier contracts in the NHS and their impact on cleaning standards and MRSA
John Carvel
CARE HOMES
Care in the City
Chris Smith explains recent investor interest in the residential home sector
Chris Smith
THE CHANGING FACE OF THE FAMILY
We are family
Lord Northbourne argues that families should be given all the help they can get, as today’s children will become tomorrow’s responsible citizens
Lord Northbourne
Mother knows best
Kelly Lee provides an insight into the day-to-day struggles single parents, and especially single mothers, face
Kelly Lee
Who’s the daddy?
Jack O’Sullivan argues that we need to redefine fatherhood in terms of the positive contribution men can make to families, instead of focusing on narrow child access issues
Jack O’Sullivan
Changing perceptions
Old does not mean over the hill anymore, according to Eddie O’Hara MP. In many families, older people are increasingly providing essential and unpaid care for children and ageing relatives
Eddie O’Hara
No Kidding
Sheila Cunliffe of the British Childfree Association challenges the idea that a family equals having children
Sheila Cunliffe
RADIOLOGY
The light fantastic
Professor Philip Gishen provides an overview of the history of imaging
Professor Philip Gishen
AIDS UPDATE
The beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?
Neil Gerrard warns that complacency has provided an ideal breeding ground for a resurgence of HIV cases in Britain, while internationally we are on the brink of several new epidemics
Neil Gerrard MP
ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS
The pain of postcode prescribing
Fergus Rogers highlights the frustration of patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis who do not have access to a drug that could help them lead normal lives
Fergus Rogers
PUBLIC HEALTH WHITE PAPER
SMOKING, MENTAL HEALTH, DIET AND EXERCISE, ALCOHOL, SEXUAL HEALTH and IN GENERAL,
MEDICAL TRAINING
New and improved
Dr Prasanna de Silva believes that the high drop-out rate under medical students is due to the fact that the current curriculum leaves them unprepared for the realities of being a doctor
Dr Prasanna de Silva
LIFESTYLE AND OBESITY
Vive la france
Professor Raj Persuad suggests that the answer to why the French can eat a high-fat diet and stay fit and healthy, may not lie in what is on their plate
Dr Raj Persaud
