Greg Fell

Screening for prostate cancer is not a no-brainer. Here’s why Screening will save some men’s lives, but there is a risk of overdiagnosis, which comes at considerable cost to others

www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

What Mark said!!

Charlatans, One and All | Milbank Memorial Fund The Senate Finance Committee hearings with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) were explosive. The Secretary of Health and Human Services was accused of

This is also a good historical overview of trust & Public Health

Charlatans, One and All

www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...

Some of the historical medical malpractice documented in here

The Global Story - Are conspiracy theories America’s biggest export? - BBC Sounds One British family deals with the devastating consequences of health conspiracies

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
[06/10, 19:22] Greg Fell: A good telling of the Paloma Shemerani story

Important part of the ecosystem of misinformation

The full story
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Exceptionally sad

The Global Story - The disgraced UK doctor behind autism misinformation - BBC Sounds How a British doctor created the vaccine myth behind Trump's autism announcement.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

an excellent contemporary telling of Wakefield

An awful lot of "public health" is delivered by staff who dont have those two words in their job title

The workforce really really matters
We can do better on this

Good report from @rsph.bsky.social

"something must be done"

"well *this* is something"

"Great. Something has been done"

The trust league tables are not robust, meaningful or fair Matthew Hankins and Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard highlight the concerns arising from the use of NHS trust rankings and suggest solutions to make them more robust, relevant and just.

www.hsj.co.uk/quality-and-...

David Oliver: League tables are no solution to the problems in NHS hospitals On 9 September NHS England published its first quarterly league tables of NHS provider trusts’ performance,1 as promised in the NHS 10 year plan.2 There are scores, tables, and rankings covering speci...

@mancunianmedic.bsky.social on League tables
www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Well established metrics
Nod to safety & experience
Stat critique
usual stuff with compound indicators
Adjusting 4 many confounders
Gaming
What's it FOR?
undermining good will (short supply)
Not addressing underlying issues

Why do we tolerate the activities of the gambling industry? Based on a true article: van Schalkwyk MC, Cassidy R. Why do we tolerate the activities of the gambling industry? Future Health J. 2025 Jun 30;12(2):100267. doi:…

vimeo.com/1122470127

Why do we tolerate the activities of the gambling industry?

Great summary video to accompany and amazong piece of scholarship
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

HT @maizie333.bsky.social

publications.aap.org/pediatrics/a...

Turns out that social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake

Hidden risks of predictive models in healthcare Joseph Alderman et al argue that predictive models in healthcare lack adequate oversight and regulation. They highlight the potential risks to patients and call for improved governance to ensure the s...

ebm.bmj.com/content/earl...
Hidden risks of predictive models in healthcare

And at this point a reminder of the Naci paper. High prices = opportunity cost and lost lives in net terms

This is where the primary care budget is!

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

thread here
bsky.app/profile/fell...

it is a classic trade off between UKPLC (and to be fair life sciences is enormously important to the economy) and the health care budget. I'd love to see that trade off done very openly and transparently ....

There is a bit more of this going on at the moment.

TBF they've said this on and off for at least last 2 decades

but don’t (English language, favourable corporation tax regime, from Heathrow you can get anywhere in the world etc etc)

Is big pharma falling out of love with the UK? Amid a string of cancelled projects and investments, Jacqui Wise looks into why drug companies seem to be turning their back on Britain The UK government was dealt a major blow earlier this month whe...

www.bmj.com/content/390/...

The old "cough up more for medicines, or we will go overseas" line

So many reasons why pharma industry might be thinking it's falling on hard times. My guess is the UK regime is not one of them (but can be a good opportunity to ask for more £)

All the usual tools
Price (price in the externalities, no fuel duty or VAT on kerosene but there is on petrol
Advertising (a tool to directly sell, but also strategically used to shape attitudes and opinion)
Availability and ease of access

Well, all the obvious reasons
No commercial incentive (in fact the opposite)
Short term growth prospect
And and and

Meanwhile the carbon budget is a pretty immovable object

Dont rely on aggregate of indivodual behaviours (though this is what we will be told the answer is)

Rethink - Rethink: should we stop flying? - BBC Sounds Should we take individual responsibility for the polluting effects of aviation?

Rethink on stopping flying

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Carbon from aviation
New fuels are a long way off and enormous challenges
SAF potential limited
Why does nobody ask about reducing flying????

- focus on curative care and individualised medicine has led to a neglect of disease prevention and health promotion

- strong economic interests and powerful lobbies have hindered the implementation of effective public health policies

Sounds familiar.......

- decentralised governance structure allows flexibility, especially at the community level, but leads to scattered responsibilities and little coordination between sectors
- absence of a public health strategy

Public health in Germany: structures, dynamics, and ways forward Despite Germany's robust economy, comprehensive social welfare system, and the country ranking third among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in terms of per-capita healt...

Public health in Germany: structures, dynamics, and ways forward
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

- absence of a strong central institution for PH
- inadequate funding for disease prevention and health promotion
- little interoperability in data collection

Men's mental health: we need systems, not symbols The UK Government is currently developing the country's first national strategy on men's mental health.1 Male suicide is a priority—rightly so, given men account for approximately 75% of suicide death...

Men's mental health: we need systems, not symbols

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Position Statement: Active Travel and
Health

www.adph.org.uk/networks/lon...

@londonadph.bsky.social

A missing element in ‘shifting care’ Our Director, Peter Spilsbury, outlines the scale of the task when it comes to making ‘the shift from hospital to community’.

www.strategyunitwm.nhs.uk/publications...

A missing element in ‘shifting care’

Numbers

Show me the budget and that will reveal the strategy

Prevention is best achieved by addressing the multilevel risk factors that lead to suicide
ambitious universal interventions—such as income protection and housing policies
whole-of-government commitment to address the pervasive social determinants of suicide

Confronting Spain's failure in the prevention of suicidal behaviour Spain did not meet WHO's goal of reducing suicide rates by 10% by 2020;1 instead, the country has experienced a decade marked by a consistent rise in suicide mortality. National statistics indicate a ...

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Spain's failure in the prevention of suicidal behaviour

has historically approached suicide prevention, with policies centralised within the health-care system
funding alone is insufficient without efficient, well directed strategy

National roll-out of social prescribing in England's primary care system: a longitudinal observational study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink data Social prescribing has expanded rapidly in England, far exceeding initial targets of 900 000 patients by 2023–24, suggesting broad service acceptability. Progress is being made in reaching specific ta...

roll-out of social prescribing in England's primary care system

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Rapid ⬆️ in Px
Doesn't appear to a rapid increase in the £ available for services to which people are referred
If this were referrals to orthopaedics that wouldn't be ok
not ok in this context

APDH London on active travel and health
@londonadph.bsky.social

www.adph.org.uk/networks/lon...

Reports and briefings - ASH Find out more about a joined-up approach and the tactics health harming industries use to block policy progress.

@ashorguk.bsky.social @ippr.org briefings aimed at what different Groups of voters think about core PH issues

ash.org.uk/campaigns/ad...

Exploring the Ethical Dimensions of Sequencing Newborns’ Genomes The report reviews ethical, legal, and social issues of newborn genome sequencing, highlighting consent, communication, equity, governance, uncertainty, and public trust as key considerations for poli...

www.rand.org/pubs/externa...

Exploring the Ethical Dimensions of Sequencing Newborns’ Genomes

RAND report for Genomics Eng

Thus far I've only skimmed, but ... oh my this IS a good report

I so hope those making decisions in this space take the time to read, digest and understand