We Live Again!

Here we go again: repeating implementation errors.

The current reforms of the English NHS are being carefully watched in Eastern and Western Europe, parts of Latin America and Asia, and in former Commonwealth nations, because they aim to develop the concept of a “primary care led health service” more fully than has ever been realised before. Building on the transformation of the NHS from an administered to a commissioned service, the Labour ref...

Remind me again: why are we here?

Metaphors we live by

Every linguist dreams of the day when the intricate variety of human language will be a commonplace, widely understood in our own and other cultures; when we can unlock the secrets of human thought and communication; when people will stop asking us how many languages we speak. This day has not yet arrived; but the present book brings it somewhat closer. It is, to begin with, a very attractive b...

How long can we live?

The continuing rapid age shift in recent years from predominately a younger to an older population in America and many other countries is a problem of great concern. Its socioeconomic implications for the distant future are quite unpredictable due to our inability to answer a few basic questions. How long will life expectancy continue to increase? What is the maximum possible length of life?

"How then shall we live?".

This address did not originate in my neocortex, but in a deeper region of my brain, the one responsible for signaling a sense of warning. The sense I have is that a subtle, distinct change is occurring around me that is not quite right. This sense eventually grew into the perception that society, in general, and medicine, in particular, are devaluing the ideals of service and sacrifice. I did n...