Proposed NHS charges

For-profit companies will strip NHS assets under proposed reforms.

The unfolding cautionary tale of Southern Cross illustrates the fundamental problems with the outsourcing of public services to corporate bodies (BMJ 2011;342:d3535, doi:10.1136/bmj. d3535). Its crisis originated when it was bought by private equity firms, which buy companies, like Southern Cross, that own unmortgaged land and buildings. After selling, leasing back, or borrowing against these a...

Proposed new psychiatric diagnoses raise charges of gender bias.

Depth charges

A defining moment in President Bill Clinton’s presidency came when he argued that his entanglement with an intern hinged on the definition of the word “is.” Likewise, President Barack Obama’s administration is now taking considerable heat for attempting to redefine the word “gone.” That’s the word that Obama aide (and former Clinton official) Carol Browner used when describing what has happened...

NHS direct.

A s recognised by the National Audit Office, in just five years, NHS Direct has established an impressive track record for customer satisfaction and patient safety, empowering patients to make better informed choices about their own healthcare. It has also clearly identified its potential to contribute to wider developments in the NHS. Building on this success the government is investing in NHS...

Counting charges

Voltage-gated ion channels of excitable tissue have evolved an exquisite sensitivity to membrane potential. The open probability of a typical potassium or sodium channel, for example, may be increased by two orders of magnitude in response to a depolarization of less than 10 mV (Zagotta et al., 1994; Hirschberg et al., 1995). As recognized by Hodgkin and Huxley (1952), this responsiveness to ch...