Spend £1 on cancer research and get 40p back every year: what’s not to like?

Today the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Research holds its summer reception in parliament. This annual event has become an important fixture on the health research calendar. The 'great and the good' assemble to focus on a key issue of the day and to network. At some point in proceedings they will be addressed by … Continue reading Spend £1 on cancer research and get 40p back every year: what’s not to like?

The medical marathon; a piece to mark the #LondonMarathon2014

What is, I wonder, the equivalent of Noel Coward's lyric 'only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun,' which might encapsulate the phenomenon that is the Virgin Money London Marathon? This morning tens of thousands of runners will set out from Greenwich Park as they do every year with high hopes of finishing two, three, four … Continue reading The medical marathon; a piece to mark the #LondonMarathon2014

DH and charities reach acoRD over medical research costs

Divvying up the costs of conducting research in the NHS funded by medical research charities is an intricate business.   Who pays for that research nurse, their time in administering the extra treatment required in a clinical trial, the procedures and equipment needed as part of its conduct, the oversight and governance needed to ensure that things are done … Continue reading DH and charities reach acoRD over medical research costs

‘Scroll down’ for clinical trials

To begin with, here's more on that Pfizer story about use of mobile phone technology etc in clinical trials. It seems to have piqued an interest among many of you anyway. Also on the subject of clinical trials, I was rather perplexed by this story running out of the NHS Confederation this morning. I'm delighted … Continue reading ‘Scroll down’ for clinical trials

Flying in the face of an interregnum

As a self-confessed member of the worried well, I ask that people think carefully before they throw strange words at me.  Particularly on the day of a regular visit to my 'prescription-happy' doctor. A colleague asked me this morning how my interregnum was going.  It  sent me into a momentary panic.  Is it treatable I … Continue reading Flying in the face of an interregnum