Clin Med
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This column explores the links and synergies between medicine and literature. What roles can literature play in reflecting and influencing good practice, and what sorts of images of doctoring are to be found in drama, poetry, fiction, biography, electronic fora and film? The editors would be pleased to receive short papers, ranging from 500–1,000 words, on relevant topics. Those interested in contributing should email brian.hurwitz@kcl.ac.uk or neil.vickers@kcl.ac.uk
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It is widely assumed by the general public that if assisted suicide (AS) or euthanasia (VE) were legalised doctors must be essentially involved in the whole process including prescribing the medication and (in euthanasia) administering it. This paper explores some reasons for this assumption and argues that it flatly contradicts what it means to be a doctor. The paper is thus not mainly concerned with the ethics of AS/VE but rather with the concept of a doctor that has evolved since the time of Hippocrates to current professional guidance reflected in healthcare law. The paper argues that the most common recent argument for AS/VE--that patients have a right to control when and how they die--in fact points to the involvement not of doctors but of legal agencies as decision makers plus technicians as agents.
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The NHS has long held a paradoxical position in the national psyche: a constant, reassuring presence that seems to be in a state of continual flux. This is partly because while the service is based in the public sector (with its reputation for risk aversion and change at a glacial pace), it is also exposed to the ever present currents of political pressure. ⋯ During this time the notion of organising healthcare has developed and formed the focus of much of the change in systems across the developed world. The narrative will highlight some of the major challenges that the NHS will face over the next few years, and introduce the series about the future of the NHS that will appear in this journal signposting some of the topics that will be followed up in these articles.