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…
Doctors in the UK are increasingly being asked to ‘prescribe’ basic welfare items such as shampoo and nappies by patients living in poverty, a new survey by the Royal College of General Practitioners has found. The Times reported that the…
Social prescribing comes in many forms, as a pilot scheme offering games of golf to help boost health and wellbeing has proved. The Golf for Health pilot took place recently in Fife, Scotland and saw patients with varying health conditions…
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…
Dr Michael Dixon, The College of Medicine Chair, reveals a busy summer calendar in his latest address… “Our cold spring is struggling to get to summer but we can look forward to warmer days with the Coronation of our Patron,…
The College of Medicine’s Deputy Chair, Professor Sir Sam Everington, has called for every school to have access to a qualified nurse, in a passionate article for the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) magazine. Sir Sam, who is a GP…
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…
To mark Social Prescribing Day 2023, Professor Tony Avery OBE, GP and National Clinical Director for Prescribing at NHS England, writes for The College of Medicine on the system approaches needed to optimise medicines to better care for people living…
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…
If ever the phrase ‘It’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts’ was applicable, then it’s in the growing arena of football teams for mental health. In the last decade, new clubs dedicated to helping those who love…
As we welcome a new year, our Chair, Dr Michael Dixon, looks back at what The College of Medicine has achieved in the last 12 months, and what the year ahead looks like for our organisation… ‘2022 was a mix…
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…
After a successful 25-year career in marketing, College of Medicine member Sandy Purewal, 50, (pictured) founded self-care platform Superfied earlier this year. The concept – empowering people to take better care of their own health via better food – was…
The College of Medicine hosted an online evening in late March, which discussed talking about finding harmony in living and dying with the HILDA project – with nutrition and integrative health cook Toral Shah offering a culinary demonstration. The workshop,…
A vital event in the College of Medicine’s annual calendar, Social Prescribing Day, which took place this year on March 18th, aims to celebrate the social prescribing movement by highlighting stories of progress, the importance of community and, this year,…
Social Prescribing featured on BBC One’s Countryfile this weekend, with presenter Anita Rani meeting Dr Marie Polley to discuss finding solutions to problems without medical intervention. Anita joined Dr Polley, who is co-Chair of the Social Prescribing Network, to discuss…
A new year is upon us, and despite the extraordinary challenges that we’ve faced in 2020, we remain hugely optimistic for the year ahead. To mark the dawn of 2021, the College asked our friends and members – many of…
English National Opera Chairman Dr Harry Brunjes, vice-president of the College of Medicine, reflects on the ENO’s first socially-distanced production… In the theatre world it certainly has been ‘the season of darkness’ with a predicted ‘winter of despair’, but hopefully…
Brushing your teeth thoroughly could help to prevent oral cancer, new research finds. Scientists at the University of California found that the bacteria that builds up around teeth when regular brushing is absent was responsible for pathogens that enhanced tumour…
