The Royal College of Psychiatrists consultation on abortion and mental health – let’s put this into perspective
Some people have expressed concern about an article published in the Daily Telegraph yesterday which…
Live blog: new mood of militancy among nurses
CMF's Head of Allied Professions, Steve Fouch (pictured below), is at the RCN Congress in Liverpool.…
Dorries and Field are not pro-life but their abortion amendments are a small step in the right direction
If you type ‘abortion’ into Google News these days you will find that most of the reports thrown…
Nan Maitland’s assisted suicide demonstrates the incremental extension that will follow any change in the law
According to the Sunday Times, an 84 year old British woman committed suicide at a Swiss facility last…
Missing midwives costs mothers’ lives
On 1 April 2011 Save the Children launched a campaign to find the missing midwives.
Save the Children’s…
Welsh teenagers to get morning-after pill over the counter – a plan that’ll backfire
I recently blogged on the fact, surprising to some, that morning-after pills don’t actually cut teen…
Pro-choice critics of the Dorries/Field amendments on abortion counselling are misrepresenting the medical facts
There has been considerable media interest in the fact that two MPs (Nadine Dorries and Frank Field)…
Putting the last first – medical mission on the front line
‘Every child should be able to access healthcare regardless of who they are and where they are born.’This…
Chinese baby girl cull backed by Britain – gender imbalance in China with British funding
Sex-selective abortions have led to severe gender imbalance in China, India and South Korea according…
‘23 week babies – the price of life’ on the BBC – a review
The recent BBC documentary ‘23 week babies – the price of life’ represented 6 months of filming…
New study shows that UK doctors consistently oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide
A new study suggests that doctors in the UK have opposed both euthanasia and assisted consistently over…
Falconer Commission on ‘assisted dying’ gets ready to report
Even before it was launched in November 2010, commentators were asking serious questions about the status and independence of Lord Falconer’s so-called ‘independent commission on assisted dying’. These concerns intensified when it emerged that the privately organised enquiry was the idea of campaign group ‘Dignity in Dying’ (formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society) and was being […]
Times newspaper launches its (largely good) ‘silver manifesto’ for elderly people
With all the bad news about elder abuse and neglect in the news lately it was (largely) refreshing to see the Times newspaper this morning launching its ‘Silver manifesto’ – 50 ways to improve age (£) The Times sets the context as follows: Barely a day passes without a story of maltreatment and neglect of […]
Cliff Richard and euthanasia – what did he really say and does it matter?
I’ve just done an interview on BBC Radio Humberside off the back of Sir Cliff Richard’s alleged support for euthanasia in this morning’s papers. The headlines do certainly seem to indicate that the 71 year old entertainer wants a change in the law. The Daily Telegraph leads with ‘Cliff Richard: Why I would consider euthanasia’; the Daily […]
Managing time – lessons from the grand master
Do you wake up in the morning and ask the Lord: ‘What is it that you have prepared in advance for me to do today?’Or, like me, do you often wonder how you will complete all the tasks that lie before you? Competing time demands are an inevitable part of life, and to some extent, […]
David Fergusson wades in to defend Coleman over abortion mental health link
Priscilla Coleman’s recent meta-analysis showing a link between abortion and mental health problems not surprisingly has created a storm, coming as it did in the middle of the recent parliamentary debate over independent abortion counseling. Whilst the left wing press and the BBC chose to ignore it, other academics in the field have attempted to […]
VIDEO: Is ‘care’ the missing component in the NHS?
Today another damning report on nursing care standards has come out of the newly re-invigorated Care Quality Commission (CQC). In unannounced spot checks on care standards for the elderly at 100 NHS hospitals (focussing primarily on whether elderly patients were treated with respect and whether they were getting adequate and appropriate food and drink), they […]
A converted abortionist speaks from beyond the grave about guilt, faith and tactics
Bernard Nathanson, who died last February, was an American medical doctor from New York who helped to found the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, but later became a pro-life activist. His book ‘the Hand of God’ is the subject of a review in this week’s British Medical Journal, by Trevor Stammers, programme […]
Keeping faith with HIV
Religious, secular, governmental and international bodies came together at Lambeth Palace this week to discuss the impact and relevance of faith based responses to HIV and AIDS. In the face of an ongoing financial meltdown in the West, and collapsing economies in many developing nations, the sustained global effort to tackle the HIV pandemic has […]
General Medical Council considers changes to its guidance that could further restrict faith discussions
Pulse magazine reported last week that the General Medical Council is planning to ‘harden’ its guidance on religion in practice. The document Good Medical Practice (2006) is the core guidance to doctors and describes what is expected of all doctors registered with the GMC. Although the guidance is addressed to doctors, it is also intended […]
Tweeting the whole person – social networking for doctors
Pictured lying on resuscitation trolleys, ward floors and a helipad, seven A&E staff were suspended in 2009 from the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. It was alleged they were playing the ‘lying down game’ during a nightshift. How did they get caught? By posting photos of the stunt on Facebook. Alas for some, this blog […]
The San Jose Articles: saying ‘no’ to abortion as an International Human Right
Almost three-quarters of the world’s countries do not permit abortion for any reason. The Daily Telegraph this week claims that Britain is one of only 56 countries that do. However many of these countries are now finding themselves under increased pressure to liberalise their abortion laws, on the basis that there is an international right […]
New developments with the HPV jab for teenagers
Over the weekend The Guardian newspaper reported that pressure is being put on the Department of Health (DoH) to replace the current vaccine offered to all teenage girls to protect them from cervical cancer, with one that will also protect them against genital warts. The DoH decision, to be made in the next few weeks, […]