What a wholesome day with the family receiving a BEM for the vaccine confidence work I was involved with during the pandemic. I’m a British Bangladeshi working class doctor who works in predominantly British Bangladeshi and/or working class communities. My work fundamentally was based on representation. Going forward we must continue to move towards a medical workforce that reflects the population we serve. Dr Jahangir Alom BEM

Set a treadmill at 21kph ( max most will go to) and try to run for 30 seconds on it. That's what he did for 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. The peak of human physical achievement. Insane, absolutely insane.

Mama Mia! (here we go again). There is no evidence that insurance systems systematically outperform tax-funded systems (or vice versa) and transition costs are enormous. Shifting funding models is a pointless distraction.

This is the Britain I love

I’m afraid we are reaching the final resort…mandating childhood vaccines.

NEW—Taking paracetamol during pregnancy does not increase risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disabilities, finds most rigorous synthesis of the current evidence to date. The research in context panel is provided below. Read the full paper: hubs.li/Q03_8dY40

Excellent health comms from @NHSEngland

APPLY NOW! Our University of Southampton and The Sutton Trust Summer School is now open for applications! Yr 12/ Level 3 Yr 1 students can join us this July to experience what life is like as a Southampton undergraduate student. Find out more - bit.ly/4aZCxdA

I’d like medical schools to write to states schools who have never sent an application to them before, inviting students to visit their campus. theguardian.com/education/20…

NHS winter preparedness 26/27 should start now: - overhaul of the seasonal vaccines strategy - abolish corridor care - a single corridor patient should be a major incident next winter - mandatory isolation leave for respiratory infections and point of care testing for FLU, COVID, RSV - protect elective care plan - expand SDEC/ ambulatory medicine to the community

Recently, I’ve been asked to do some media on “super flu.” My two pence on this is: 1. There isn’t any data to suggest this is more virulent (doesn’t make you more sick than last years flu) 2. Nor have I seen any data to suggest it is more contagious than last year (please share data in the comments if I’m wrong on points 1 & 2) 3. If we continue to have lower rates of seasonal vaccine uptake more at risk people will have poor immunity against future strains 4. “Super flu” is misleading and scaremongering. For god’s sake leave science communication to the experts 4. It seems we learnt nothing from the pandemic. The UK is sub optimal at predicting and preparing for flu each and every year

Your annual reminder - charging people fees for medical school application prep and speciality interview courses is not entrepreneurship. It’s extortion.

The Chancellor has just implemented both parts of our plan - set out with former PM, Gordon Brown - to reduce child poverty. A tax on gambling to scrap the two child limit. Very proud of our work @IPPR

The rise of the far right is bad for our health so I wrote about it in response to a letter in the BMJ. linkedin.com/pulse/prevalenc…

Another way of looking at it: child poverty - kids going to school hungry - massively holds back social mobility. Ending the 2 child limit is a very effective policy to lower child poverty & will give 1/2 million kids a better chance in life. I’d pay more tax for that.

If you’re a healthcare worker in the NHS I want to know, have you been offered a flu jab yet?

Yet the NHS still recommends the maximum number of weekly units as fourteen...not zero.

As we head into the NHS winter period, I urge Trusts to introduce rapid testing for all frontline staff and implement clear isolation policies for respiratory infections. Vaccines and PPE alone are not enough.