The third week in November marks World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week, a global annual campaign to improve awareness and understanding of Antimicrobial Resistance amongst patients and healthcare professionals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared AMR one of the…
Social prescribing could help young people suffering with mental health problems, new research says. Children’s charity Barnardo’s says referrals for non-clinical treatments could help to ease current pressure on child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) and help young patients…
The College of Medicine’s Self Care Lead, Simon Mills, first encountered herbalist and acupuncturist Michael McIntyre around 45 years ago as the pair met as practitioners trying to drive forward plant medicine in the UK. In 2022, the College of…
NHS healthcare professionals are to get more training to improve the treatment of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), as part of a new government strategy. The Department of Health’s interim plan, writes The Times, will see medical students, nurses and…
Professor Sir Muir Gray, who’s on The College of Medicine’s Scientific Advisory Council, has revealed his advice on what patients should be asking their doctors to make the most of a short appointment time. Sir Muir, who is a…
Actress Jenny Seagrove told audience members at the Integrative & Personalised Medicine conference 2023 in London last week that her own approach to health was radically impacted by watching her mother being prescribed ‘pills, pills and more pills’ when she…
The College of Medicine’s Chair, Dr Michael Dixon, has announced he is leaving the Social Prescribing Network, after co-founding the organisation in 2015. Current Co-Chair Sian Brand announced the news, saying Dr Dixon had been the SPN’s ‘constant’ over the…
Social isolation can be as damaging for health as a smoking habit, a top US health official has warned, saying loneliness can potentially hasten death by nearly 30 per cent. Speaking to BBC News, Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General, said that…
This week, Professor Chris Drinkwater, Executive Lead for Arts and Creativity at the North East & North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network, wrote a blog for theatre company Damn Cheek on the benefits of drama for helping children to cope…
One of The College of Medicine’s Young Fellows, Hamaad Khan, delivered a powerful speech to students on Social Prescribing Day 2023, which took place on March 9th, about how Social Prescribing is vital to the future success of the NHS.…
The UK minister for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, has said the Government is committed to Social Prescribing, following last week’s Social Prescribing Day, saying funding of £3.6million will be poured into it over the next two years. Writing…
Social Prescribing Day is an annual celebration of social prescribing, recognising link workers, local community groups and regional and national organisations which support people’s health and wellbeing. This year Social Prescribing Day fell on Thursday 9th March – with many…
Social prescribing and The College of Medicine’s Beyond Pills Campaign made the headlines this weekend, with a detailed article in The Sunday Express highlighting our call for urgent reform on unnecessary prescribing within the current healthcare system. The article, written…
An article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) this month debates how recent research on the treatment of chronic pain suggests social prescribing – including exercise and psychological and social support – could have a positive impact for patients living…
Support groups for people suffering from chronic pain, dubbed ‘Pain Cafes‘, have opened across Cornwall in a bid to help people manage their pain without relying solely on prescription painkillers. The Pain Cafes, led by Chronic Pain in Cornwall (CPIC),…
GP surgeries in the UK should evolve to be more like ‘mini hospitals’ to help the whole NHS system run more effectively, The College of Medicine’s Vice President, Professor Sir Sam Everington, has said. Speaking to the Sunday Express, Sir…
In a 2018 article for the Journal of Holistic Healthcare – republished last month by the British Association for Holistic Medicine and Health Care (BHMA), our Chair, Dr Michael Dixon (pictured below), recounts how, in his own career as a…
Sarah Stacey meets Gay Palmer, a Social Prescriber Link Worker Team Lead in South Southwark, who explains how her work successfully went online during the pandemic – and how the power of community can help transform individual lives… Until autumn…
Those following a plant-based diet could be better placed to fight off the symptoms of Covid, a new study has found. The major research, published in the BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health journal, found that following a non-meat diet reduced the…
Two GPs who helped to create a mental health referral team during the height of the first lock-down have shared with the College of Medicine the challenges and successes of its first year in operation. The Andover Primary Care Mental…
A new study into the link between obesity and diabetes has suggested that everyone has a ‘personal fat threshold’ and staying on the right side of it could help stave off a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The research, carried out…
The College of Medicine’s Chair has welcomed plans by the Government to reduce the overprescribing of medicines. A report published this week announced action to prevent medicines being prescribed unnecessarily, following a new review led by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer…
Public Health England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is urging employers to introduce a raft of new measures to help improve the mental health of their workers. Yoga and meditation sessions, more flexible working hours and…
Nour Saleh says she first realised the positive influence of art as a child, noticing ‘the power of it to gather people and unite them’ and how drawing or doodling ‘appeased’ her own emotions, offering moments of calm. Nour, a…
A newly qualified doctor whose campaign to put diet and nutrition on the medical curriculum has seen her work honoured with a prestigious Diana Award has praised the College of Medicine for helping to inspire her. The awards are given…
