Why doctors cause politicians trouble

Doctors, managers and politicians.

Doctors and politicians have rarely seen eye to eye on what a health service should provide and how it should be managed. The introduction of general management in 1984, while initially successful, created new fault-lines between doctors, managers and politicians that were compounded by a succession of NHS reorganisations. These changes brought politics too close to front-line management, highl...

'Populist politicians' take aim at 'soft-target' doctors.

Why doctors' stories matter.

For me, the invitation to participate in honouring doctors’ stories* completes a circle that has been going around for 20 years. In 1989 I wrote what became my first book, At the Will of the Body,1 which tells the story of my own illness experiences during the mid1980s. I had a virally induced heart attack—which I was disappointed to hear has now been downgraded to a “cardiac incident”—and just...

Why ICD-10 is worth the trouble.

And it waits anxiously, because the change represents a looming disruption. Yet, no matter the trouble, the transition is necessary, because the current coding system can’t take healthcare into the future. Today’s data needs are dramatically different than they were 30 years ago when ICD-9 was introduced. ICD-10 will advance healthcare in many ways, with benefits accruing across five major cate...

Why are Quebec's doctors leaving?

T Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recently reported that Quebec shows a net loss in the interprovincial migration of physicians, and this poor performance is compounded by the departure of physicians to other countries. In all, 653 doctors have left Quebec in the past 5 years. Their average age was 40.8 years, so they were at the peak of their productivity. Why are they leaving...