Maintenance of function is increasingly important as populations age. In their systematic review and network meta-analysis of community based complex interventions to sustain independence in older people, Crocker and colleagues investigated which groups of intervention components most likely sustain independence.1 We noted that few of the estimates were significant and that the authors’ interpretations may have been overly enthusiastic. We recently reviewed the impact of complex preventive interventions as a whole and by their individual components, regardless of whether the components were co ..read more

The World Medical Association (WMA) has called for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza after its council passed a resolution put forward by the BMA.The WMA said that it was gravely concerned by the deepening healthcare and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the growing starvation and lack of medical care, and the continued imprisonment and abuse of hostages.The association’s president, Lujain AlQodmani, said, “WMA is demanding a bilateral, negotiated, and sustainable ceasefire in order to protect all civilians, secure the release and safe passage of all hostages, and allow the transfer of humanitari ..read more

Doctor activists are in the news. Sarah Benn, a former GP from Birmingham, has had her medical licence suspended for five months after being arrested for taking part in peaceful protests by Just Stop Oil.1 Medical members of the Extinction Rebellion movement have served jail sentences for taking part in peaceful protests about the climate emergency: they now face disciplinary hearings to determine whether they’ll be struck off.2 It’s tempting to think that medical activism is new, but it isn’t. There’s a distinguished history of doctors, some of them eminent, putting their medical careers and ..read more

Durno and Abioye raise important and poignant points in their articles about communicating with deaf people.12 I agree entirely—we need to do more to ensure that patients who have hearing loss are not disadvantaged when they are using NHS services.During my internal medicine training, I learnt from patients who were deaf about SignLive technology (https://signlive.co.uk/), which connected me to a live British Sign Language (BSL) translator on an iPad, allowing me to communicate clearly with patients and their families. This technology was invaluable, and the experience was profoundly positive ..read more

On 21 April a woman with a rare and incurable disease became the first person in Peru to die with medical assistance, potentially opening the way to legal euthanasia in the South American country.Ana Estrada, a 47 year old psychologist, had polymyositis, which causes muscle wasting, for the past three decades. She spent most of her life in a bed connected to a mechanical respirator, requiring almost daily assistance from a nurse.Estrada still managed to obtain a psychology degree, work as a therapist, and become the face of a movement dedicated to opening the way for other Peruvians with simil ..read more

A former GP and climate activist who spent 32 days in prison for breaching an injunction banning protests outside an oil terminal against the production and use of fossil fuels has been suspended from the UK medical register for five months.Sarah Benn told a medical practitioners tribunal that she refused to remediate her conduct but intended to continue protesting until the government took urgent action to protect its citizens and future generations from the effects of climate breakdown. She said that she was “blowing my whistle as loud as I can.”The tribunal emphasised that professional rule ..read more

The surgeon glared at me. When I asked what I’d done wrong they replied that they found it “scary” that I’d used the “wrong” hand to cut sutures when assisting in theatre. What’s scary to me is how easily the challenges faced by lefthanded trainees are dismissed—an experience I’ve had not only in surgery but across all medical specialties. Medicine needs to move away from the idea of “right” and “wrong” hands, so that lefthanded students learning examination and surgical skills are properly supported in caring for patients.Left in a right worldFrom the beginning of my first year of medical sch ..read more

Our household doesn’t rely on alarm clocks. Instead, it’s the consistent thumping of my 18 year old brother’s foot against the side of his crib that signals 6 am. His profound autism and developmental delay are woven into the fabric of our family’s daily routine, and his silent cues shape our interactions. Breakfast, a simple meal for many, is an intricate dialogue for us. My brother doesn’t communicate with words, but his actions speak volumes. A fleeting smile and hand rub mean yes, while a whine or deliberate head turn signals no.The complexity of caregivingMy life is completely mapped out ..read more

The medical community, human rights groups, and agencies including the UN and the Council of Europe have condemned the UK for passing the Rwanda deportation bill, calling it an inhumane piece of legislation that endangers crucial medical care for some of the most vulnerable people.Peers in the House of Lords eventually backed down on amending the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, and it was passed by the House of Commons late on 22 April.The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who has put the Rwanda bill at the centre of his attempts to stop small boats crossing the Channel, said that t ..read more

Urgent action is needed to stem the exodus of doctors from the NHS, which is damaging patient care and costing taxpayers up to £2.4bn a year, the BMA has warned. With an estimated 15 000 to 23 000 doctors in England having left the NHS prematurely between September 2022 and September 2023, the cost of replacing them and their expertise would be between £1.6bn and £2.4bn, it said.With rising numbers of doctors indicating they were taking steps to leave the profession, the BMA warned this figure could rise to as much as £5bn a year in the coming years. This represents not only a huge loss of med ..read more