Medicine and Science from The BMJ

Nick Oliver, consultant diabetologist at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust and Philippa Cooper, who has type I diabetes, join us to explain how structured education works for patients, and give tips on self management. Read the full review: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i998

Gareth Iacobucci talks to Candace Imison, director of policy at The Nuffield Trust, about the problems facing GPs, and how primary care could be changed. "5 minutes with... Candace Imison": http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1378

As the junior doctors in England strike, concerns for the workforce are foremost in the minds of those running the NHS. A summary is available here: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1510 In The BMJ roundtable, recorded at the Nuffield Trust Health Policy Summit on Friday 4 March 2016, we asked our participants if they think the NHS is in crisis, and what they think can be done to help those working across the system. The participants were Clifford Mann, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Samantha Barrell, chief executive at Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Candace Imison, director of policy at the Nuffield Trust, Richard Jones, consultant cardiologist, Saira Ghafur, specialist registrar, Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Claire Lemer, consultant in general paediatrics, Ben Mearns , chief of medicine at Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Sarah Pickup, deputy chief executive at the Local Government Association, and Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of National Voices.

“Juliet”, a woman living in London, was diagnosed with a mysterious illness in November 2015, Ian Cropley, a consultant in infectious disease from The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, was there to investigate. In this podcast, we find out how Zika, once a little known virus causing a rash and fever, has subsequently become a global health emergency. We also discuss how the infection is linked to microcephaly, and what we still need to understand to control the disease. All Zika virus resources from BMJ are now freely available on www.bmj.com/freezikaresources.

How should health professionals engage with this increasingly popular but unproved practice? Aubrey Cunnington, a consultant paediatrician from Imperial College London joins us to discuss. Read the full editorial: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i227

The Department of Health is proposing to extend charging for migrants into some NHS primary care services and emergency departments. Although the government asserts that the NHS is “overly generous to those who have only a temporary relationship with the UK,” Lucy Jones, UK lead for Doctors of the World says these proposals will disproportionately harm vulnerable undocumented migrants. Read the full editorial: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i685

In recent weeks, the firearms controversy has again lit up the media in the United States, with clarification that anyone engaged in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks. But, argues Fred Rivara from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, we may never know its effects because of the continuing ban on federal funding of research into gun violence. http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i578

This week, junior doctors in England have taken industrial action for the second time in as many months after failing to reach agreement with the government over their proposed new contract. Tom Moberley and Abi Rimmer, from BMJ Careers, went to the picket lines at Northwick Park Hospital, and University Hospital Lewisham to talk to the doctors, and their supporters. Keep up to date with the junior doctor's continuing industrial action with our live blog: http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2016/02/08/junior-doctors-strike-february-2016-live-blog/

The Rapid diagnostic tests have the potential to reduce the overtreatment of malaria by 95%, but time and extensive logistical, behavioural, and technical interventions may be required to achieve this. Eleanor Ochodo from the Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care, at Stellenbosch University, joins us to discuss. Read the full article: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i107

Iqbal Malik, consultant cardiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, joins Mabel Chew to discuss the role of angioplasty and stenting in patients with stable angina. Read the full article online: http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i205