March 17th, 2021Until a month ago, the gold-standard guidelines on health sector mask usage were based on the belief that N95 masks should be reserved for those performing aerosol-generating procedures and that it was safe for other front-line workers to wear...
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a paradigm shift in the management and risk-stratification of patients presenting for both elective and emergency surgery, write researchers at the College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban in a SA...
February 10th, 2021While clinicians working in the ICU experienced burnout symptoms during COVID-19, several were significantly associated with "moral distress," such as scarcity of resources and not working with qualified colleagues, found a Dutch study.
Niek Kok,...
November 18th, 2020Work-related stress levels are so high that 43% of younger South African healthcare workers have considered leaving the profession. The Future Health Index 2020 produced by Philips South Africa also reveals, however, that younger doctors have...
November 11th, 2020A survey of more than 4,000 UK emergency care doctors has shown that they need more support to recover from work pressures between shifts. The study highlighted how the doctors' “need for recovery” was higher than anything recorded in previous...
November 4th, 2020Because of COVID-19, primary care practice has moved to teleconsultations and the physical examination has fallen out of use. A US doctor muses on the effects of its loss.
Dr Paul Hyman of Mid Coast–Parkview Health in Brunswick, Maine writes...
September 30th, 2020Too many doctors and other healthcare professionals fail to properly support nicotine addicts and fall short of their immediate duty of care – let alone help avoid a host of associated long-term health conditions – according to tobacco harm...
September 23rd, 2020A scheme that gave GP surgeries cash incentives to tell women about long-acting reversible methods of contraception has been linked to a sharp fall in UK abortion rates, reports The Guardian. Long-acting reversible contraceptives (Larcs), include...
More than one quarter of 120,000 Australian asthma patients have been prescribed potentially dangerous amounts of steroid tablets, with researchers warning this puts them at greater risk of serious side-effects. Researchers, led by University of...
September 9th, 2020When doctors are the same race as their patients, it can sometimes forge a sense of comfort that helps to reduce anxiety and pain, particularly for Black patients, research from the University of Miami suggests.
In a study led by Dr Steven R...
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about rapid innovation in mental health care, and the move to telemedicine is likely here to stay to at least some degree, but research led by University College London and King's College London cautions that...
August 12th, 2020A British Medical Association survey shows that 90% of doctors in the relevant age group believe that menopause has affected their work performance. Yet it remains a taboo workplace subject that is leading to an unaffordable loss of senior...
August 5th, 2020UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock is facing a backlash from patient and medical groups after declaring that all consultations should be conducted virtually unless there was a “compelling clinical reason not to”, reports The Daily Telegraph. The...
July 29th, 2020A large UK study found that asthma patients were increasingly prescribed higher levels of treatment, often without clear clinical indication for such high doses, ignoring international guidelines that recommend clinicians find the minimum effective...
July 22nd, 2020While 93% of US paediatricians surveyed were aware of the national guidelines on peanut allergy prevention in infants, only 30% were fully implementing the recommended practices and 64% reported partial implementation, according to a study by...
July 1st, 2020COVID-19 has slashed patient numbers, leaving many private doctors in financial distress and worsening patient health outcomes, writes MedicalBrief. While private health offers to help the state have “elicited little traction” a novel plan for...
