Compulsory vaccinations: sensible or coercive?

Cervical Screening Awareness Week: getting the facts out

14–20 June is Cervical Screening Awareness Week. We have a valuable opportunity to highlight the importance of the test but also to communicate what HPV testing is, and what it means to have HPV....

Weight loss and financial incentives: a flawed scheme?

But what does the evidence show? When Korean mathematicians Lee et al (2021) devised an epidemic model to investigate the theoretical role of financial incentives to see how they might usefully...

What is lifestyle medicine and how can it help our patients?

Most clinical guidelines for managing long-term conditions, both physical and mental, suggest addressing lifestyle/modifiable factors as the first step of treatment. But in practice, this is often...

Understanding autism in nursing practice

I am a nurse, yet I have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. Special interests are something that are more well known about with this condition. I have about 200 publications, as this is a...

Are BAME communities really reluctant to take the COVID-19 vaccination?

The RSPH commissioned a poll on public attitudes to the COVID-19 vaccine. They asked respondents ‘How likely or unlikely would you be to take a COVID-19 vaccine if you were advised by your GP or...

The legacy of the Ten Point Plan for general practice nurses

Standards for education programmes for nurses new to general practice, developed in partnership with GPNs and educators have also been published, providing consistency for all GPNs who are undertaking...

Spread the word: vitamin D is key for post-menopausal women

Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common medical conditions in the world (Sizar et al, 2020). It is highly prevalent in older adults in Northern Europe (McCarroll et al, 2015). One in eight over...

Recognising the important role of nurses in general practice

The general practice workforce is made up of multidisciplinary teams working together across primary care networks (PCNs) in order to deliver care for their local populations. It is clear that general...

CARE: a new approach to change in primary care

CARE (Connected, Authentic, Resilient & Empowered) was developed in order to address these three issues. A practical, person-centred and locally owned change management, leadership and resilience...

The power of practice nursing to galvanise the system

The integral role of BAME nurses in primary care

I knew I wanted to become a practice nurse from my first year of nursing studies. I loved the idea of building therapeutic relationships with patients and their families, as I know familiarity...