Articles & Commentary

The i Paper

Pleas for parents to protect their children as MMR vaccine uptake hits 10-year low

Comment in article by Paul Gallagher: Dr Ellen Welch said it is likely that anti-vax conspiracy theories over the Covid-19 have played a role in the decrease of numbers of children getting routine vaccines since the pandemic began

BMJ

What implications does the Toombes vs Mitchell case have for other health professionals?

The recent case of Toombes vs Mitchell made legal history and the medical profession have been considering the potential implications ever since. Evie Toombes, a para-showjumper and disability activist, who was born with a neural tube defect, successfully sued her mother’s general practitioner, Philip Mitchell, arguing that she would never have been conceived had her mother been given adequate pre conceptual advice.

Mail Plus

To vape or not to vape

Last week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that England could become the first country to prescribe e-cigarettes, as updated guidance from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) encourages vaping manufacturers to license their products as medicines.

Mail Plus

I was pregnant and worried about having the Covid vaccine, but I know I made the right choice

Figures released by NHS England last week showed that one in six intensive-care patients is an unvaccinated pregnant woman – highlighting the bleak consequences of not getting jabbed. I’m a GP, and at the height of the second wave of the pandemic, I had the Covid-19 vaccine at 29 weeks pregnant.

The Guardian

Who do you trust with your medical appointments, your GP or Sajid Javid?

Guardian Opinion. As a doctor, I know plans to ‘ramp up’ in-person consultations are no solution to the deeper problems in our practices

The i Paper

Covid-19 inquiry report: ‘Without the blood, sweat and tears of social care staff many more would have died’

Quoted in Paul Gallagher's article. NHS staff said the Government allowed the virus to "creep into the country unchecked", and much more should have been done to control its spread

Politics Home

Blaming GPs for problems accessing healthcare will not solve anything

There is a narrative that GP practices have been closed to patients and that GPs have been hiding away. But without adequate resources, we can do very little to remedy problems accessing care

The Times

NHS staff suffer sinister tide of abuse

Quoted. Health organisations that represent hundreds of thousands of NHS staff are speaking out against a “sinister tide” of abuse and aggression they say has grown in the past few months.

BMJ

Covid-19: GPs urge government to clear up confusion over symptoms

Quoted in Elisabeth Mahase's news article

The Times

Dr Ellen Welch in The Sunday Times Letters: “Shortsighted vision”