Elsewhere, Dr Crippen discusses the now real prospect of Labour winning the next general election. And, as always, the NHS is central to the arguments.

Back to the grind. The weather does not matter as much now, though irritatingly it is sunny. I was on edge during the last week of the holiday, worrying about how hard it was going to...

A lunchtime phone call from a godson. He qualified as a doctor last year. He has just coming to the end of his F1 year. He wants to be a surgeon. A properly trained surgeon. There are a total of...

An odd report from the BBC today. Naturally, it is provocative. No surprise there. Probably, it is rubbish. Not much surprise there. The report is based upon some odd remarks, probably taken out...

King Andy's guide to faking a sickie It has always suited governments to encourage the long-term unemployed to "discover" an illness and move on to incapacity benefit. The move is easily made, as GPs are a "soft touch" for a sick certificate. But...

The militant wing of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) brigade broke out the champagne when a recent article in Science reported that a retrovirus had been found in 67% of ME patients compared to under 4% of the general population. Sadly, the study...

Garderobe A smartly dressed, middle-aged lady came in and sat down. Let's call her Angela. Angela was a child of the 60s, the decade of female emancipation. But, while other girls of her age were letting their hair down at Woodstock, Angela was still...

Last week, my ageing motorcar started making an odd noise. The service manager told me I needed a replacement camfleugal pin. He gave me a list of 10 suppliers. Which one did I want them to use? I don't know much about camfleugal pins. I told him to...

Last week GPs were mystified when the health secretary Andy Burnham announced plans to abolish practice boundaries, which will leave patients free to register with any GP of their choice, regardless of where they live. But has the government thought...