Antimicrobial Resistance: Can We Outrun Evolution?

First published in the NASGP Newsletter in February, 2020 This was written at the end of January 2020. Since then Covid-19 has trumped almost every other medical challenge, but in the future we will need effective antibiotics all the more. In his Nobel prize acceptance speech Alexander Fleming sounded a note of warning. He had …

I’ve Seen the Future of General Practice, and . . .

First published in the NASGP Newsletter in October, 2019 Social prescribing transforms 21st century lives A partner in a North London practice was feeling burned out. The crushing target-chasing workload was no longer offset by the reward of helping patients. The BNF had no remedy for the distresses of modern life which patients were bringing …

Sin City: the Redemption

First published: in the NASGP Newsletter in April 2018 The UK is losing the ‘war on drugs’. We might learn from Colombia as it recovers from decades of violence brought about by its illegal manufacture and export of cocaine. Twenty-five years ago Medellín in Colombia was the murder capital of the world. The city was …

Understanding Denial: a Visit to the Faroe Islands

First published in the NASGP Newsletter in June 2018 What can public health in UK learn from the Faroese tradition of whaling about changing cultural traditions? The Islands and the Whales is a documentary by lawyer-turned-filmmaker Mike Day. It isn’t simply about whaling in the Faroe Islands. It’s an exploration of the practical and emotional obstacles …