British Medical Association (BMA) Research This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

[Correspondence] NHS junior doctor contract proposal: risks and prejudices
Proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts working within the NHS have been met with fierce opposition, attracting widespread media coverage in recent weeks. Heavy criticism of the changes has led to a stall in negotiations and threats of possible industrial action led by the British Medical Association.1 Several Royal Colleges have also called on the government to reassess its position, citing longer working hours and reducing pay as detrimental to staff morale and patient safety.2 Most of the reaction has centred on the physical and financial effects this proposal will have on junior doctors, although there has been l...
Source: LANCET - October 8, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Faheem Ahmed, Na'eem Ahmed, Harold Ellis, Eldryd Parry, Graeme Catto Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research

[Comment] Offline: Fibbing for God
On Sept 11, the UK's House of Commons votes on a Private Member's Bill (tabled by Rob Marris MP) that would legalise assisted dying. According to Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying, a group that lobbies for a change to the law, “dying people should be able to control the manner and timing of their death if their suffering has become unbearable”. The forces against assisted dying, or assisted suicide as some critics prefer to call it, are formidable. The most high-profile campaigner against assisted dying is Ilora Finlay, professor of palliative care at Cardiff University, co-chair of Living and Dying Well, cha...
Source: LANCET - September 4, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Richard Horton Tags: Comment Source Type: research

The Lead Treatment of Cancer
Students of the cancer problem have been observing with interest the reports emanating from Liverpool concerning the value of lead preparations in the treatment of inoperable cancer. At a recent meeting of the British Medical Association, a full summary of the results to date was presented. The clinical survey indicates that there is promise of therapeutic benefit in a few selected cases of otherwise hopeless cancer. (Source: JAMA)
Source: JAMA - May 26, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research

Prospects for a nicotine-reduction strategy in the cigarette endgame: alternative tobacco harm reduction scenarios
An innovative proposal made in 1994 (Benowitz & Henningfield, 1994) to mandate sales only of non-addictive, low-nicotine tobacco cigarettes has had a dominant place in cigarette endgame strategies and is encouraged by the American Medical Association, the British Medical Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Surgeon-General (Benowitz & Henningfield, 2013; Hatsukami, Benowitz, Donny, Henningfield, & Zeller, 2013; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014). (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - February 23, 2015 Category: Addiction Authors: L.T. Kozlowski Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Doctors facing complaints are at higher risk of depression and self-harm.
Authors: Abstract Doctors subject to complaints procedures are at significant risk of becoming depressed and suicidal, according to a study based on a large survey of members of the British Medical Association. PMID: 25627507 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Nursing Standard)
Source: Nursing Standard - January 28, 2015 Category: Nursing Tags: Nurs Stand Source Type: research

[Editorial] Undermining the Hippocratic Oath: the Medical Innovation Bill
On Nov 13, 2014, 100 prominent UK oncologists signed a letter to The Times stating they “neither want nor need” the Medical Innovation Bill tabled by Lord Saatchi—an unelected individual with no professional medical or scientific training—that is currently making its way through the House of Lords. These oncologists join almost every prominent British medical association in condemning the Bill. In about 600 words, the Bill tables a series of sweeping indemnities, which would see medical professionals exonerated for not following “the existing…accepted medical treatments…if the decision to do so is taken respo...
Source: The Lancet Oncology - November 28, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: The Lancet Oncology Tags: Editorial Source Type: research

[Comment] Offline: Statins—where is the leadership?
On Oct 21, a group of public health scientists and medical political leaders wrote to Sarah Wollaston, Chair of the UK House of Commons Health Select Committee, to call for an independent investigation into the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The letter's nine authors included Kailash Chand (Deputy Chair of the British Medical Association's Council), Lord Ian McColl, and Professor Simon Capewell. The charges were serious, and related to what they characterised as NICE's support for the “mass prescription of statins where enormous uncertainty exists about the nature and extent of statins [sic] si...
Source: LANCET - November 1, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Richard Horton Tags: Comment Source Type: research

Skills for Communicating with Patients - Third edition Silverman Jonathan et al Skills for Communicating with Patients - Third edition 312pp £34.99 Radcliffe Publishing 978 1 8461 9365 1 1846193656 [Formula: see text].
Authors: Abstract Good communication is important for healthcare professionals at all levels, but it is a crucial skill for nurses. This book, now in its third edition and highly commended by the British Medical Association, may be used to achieve continuing professional development points through directed reading. PMID: 25335618 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Nursing Standard)
Source: Nursing Standard - October 22, 2014 Category: Nursing Tags: Nurs Stand Source Type: research

We should be pushing for a much larger pay rise than 1 per cent.
Abstract I am pleased that there is going to be a ballot on industrial action over pay. But why has it taken so long to organise and why aren't the RCN and the British Medical Association balloting their members? PMID: 25074115 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Nursing Standard)
Source: Nursing Standard - July 30, 2014 Category: Nursing Authors: Clark C Tags: Nurs Stand Source Type: research

Medicine in colonial Australia, 1788-1900.
Abstract For the first five decades of European settlement in Australia, medical care for convicts and free settlers was provided by the Colonial Medical Service. After about 1850, as population and wealth grew markedly, there was significant professional development based on private practice. Except in Victoria, medical societies and journals did not become solidly established until late in the 19th century. The advent of local British Medical Association branches was an important factor in this consolidation. In the first few years of the colony, mortality was very high, but the common childhood infectio...
Source: Med J Aust - July 7, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Lewis MJ Tags: Med J Aust Source Type: research

'A matter of conscience': the moral authority of the world medical association and the readmission of the South africans, 1976-1994.
This article describes the role of transnational anti-apartheid activism in South Africa, Britain and the United States in generating international moral outrage over the readmission of the Medical Association of South Africa (MASA) to the World Medical Association (WMA), which had taken place in 1981 after it had withdrawn from that body in 1976. It discusses an example of a controversy where an international health organisation (IHO) lost moral authority as a result of being accused of white supremacy and a pro-American engagement in Cold War politics. At the time of its readmission to the WMA, the MASA was controversial...
Source: Medical History - April 1, 2014 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Mbali M Tags: Med Hist Source Type: research

Drugs of Dependence. The Role of Medical Professionals edited by Howes P [editor], by Bell J, Bowden‐Jones O, Ellinas T, Reed K, Rolles S, Roycroft G, Witton J; Contributors: Finch E, Gosine A, Green N, Rough E; On behalf of the BMA Board of Science London: British Medical Association, 2013 ISBN 10: 1 905545 67 3, 308 pp. Online (grey literature): http://bma.org.uk/news‐views‐analysis/in‐depth‐drugs‐of‐dependence
(Source: Drug and Alcohol Review)
Source: Drug and Alcohol Review - January 9, 2014 Category: Addiction Authors: Chris Holmwood Tags: CRITIQUES Source Type: research

Ethics briefing
Scrutinising the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for England and Wales The Mental Capacity Act (2005) for England and Wales came into force in 2007. It was designed to codify the law in relation to decision making on behalf of adults lacking the capacity to make specified decisions on their own behalf. In 2013, the House of Lords established a Select Committee on the Act in order to explore how well it was achieving its aims and whether any substantive amendments were required.1 In particular the Committee wanted to identify whether the Act was achieving an appropriate balance between enabling adults who may have impaired capacit...
Source: Journal of Medical Ethics - December 13, 2013 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Brannan, S., Campbell, R., Davies, M., English, V., Mussell, R., Sheather, J. C. Tags: Disability, Psychology and medicine Ethics briefing Source Type: research

New GP contracts will end some annual checks.
Authors: Abstract Practice nurses' workloads will involve less paperwork when GPs' terms and conditions change, the British Medical Association says. PMID: 24251469 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Nursing Standard)
Source: Nursing Standard - November 20, 2013 Category: Nursing Tags: Nurs Stand Source Type: research

Nearly 85% of tobacco smoke is invisible--a confirmation of previous claims
Tobacco control campaigns frequently make use of statistical and scientific information to inform the public and policy makers about the dangers of tobacco smoke. It is clearly crucial for the credibility of tobacco control programmes that accurate scientifically valid information is used in these campaign materials, and Siegel1 highlights the importance of ensuring that the evidence base of these materials is scientifically sound. In 2002, the British Medical Association produced a report on passive smoking that indicated:"Almost 85 per cent of secondhand smoke is in the form of invisible, odourless gases."2 This referen...
Source: Tobacco Control - October 16, 2013 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Gee, I. L., Semple, S., Watson, A., Crossfield, A. Tags: Research letter Source Type: research