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

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

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

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

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 in the City
Chris Smith explains recent investor interest in the residential home sector
Chris Smith

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

The light fantastic
Professor Philip Gishen provides an overview of the history of imaging
Professor Philip Gishen

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

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

SMOKING, MENTAL HEALTH, DIET AND EXERCISE, ALCOHOL, SEXUAL HEALTH and IN GENERAL,

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

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