I am astonished. I find myself in agreement with a sociologist. ‘The market in health care is not a means of achieving competitive efficiency but a pseudo-market for creating private value at public expense.’
But I suppose agreement comes in that he is speaking to the least favourite part of my education in accounting, economics. Now when a sociologist speaks to economics one would wonder whether you need to find a pinch of salt, but then you already know that you need more than a pinch when you read any of my comments on economics, so my agreement with the man does not lend any support to what he wrote.
I normally think that when a thing is referred to by the initial letters of its proper name there is no need to add an S to pluralise it. The plural S is hidden behind the initial capital letter. So we have, for example, OS. You would not ask how many different OSes are there? You would ask how many different O(perating) S(ystems) are there. The plural s is hidden. There are exceptions of course but these prove the rule for the combination of the initial letters has become a noun in itself which does not describe the same thing as the string of words describes, so though we refer to LASER, if we have two sources we shall speak of having two lasers.
‘Covid-19 is on the rise again in the UK. After multiple lockdowns and more than 197,000 deaths, experts are warning we’re now entering a fifth wave of the pandemic. So why are around four million adults in the UK still yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine? In this timely, eye-opening investigation Professor Hannah Fry seeks to understand why so many remain unvaccinated against Covid-19.
You may be aware of what some call conspiracy theories, such as the prospect of the WHO imposing restrictions on and within sovereign states in the event of another [so-called] pandemic, and the plans of the ‘liberal elite’, the few individuals who have more wealth than many sovereign states, to form a world government. Coco is not suggesting that Coco agrees with those who promote these theories, nor with those who might promote these alternate ideologies, but it does present an interesting prospect. We have seen how the restrictions imposed over the recent three years have provided significant economic opportunities for some but have left others impoverished due to an inability to work. For those who are able to gain in such times a return to them, in a more controlled way through the new institutions which may be established if these theories are correct, would not be something to be shunned, but rather embraced with open arms. But where does that leave those who are not able to benefit? The combination of these two ideas tends towards a dystopia of unparalleled dimensions; or is that really so?
It has been overshadowed in the last few days by the passing of a great man. The Duke is rightly to be remembered and his life celebrated for all the good he has done and in the idiosyncrasies that he displayed. His death reminds us that life does not remain the same; time moves on; until now in recent days, and I suppose that it shall return, there had been much talk in these parts about what the new normal will look like. I don’t know what you hear elsewhere, but what we hear doesn’t sound to me very much unlike the old.
Where Coco first published this he was going to use the word kongratulations, correctly spelt of course, but something in the system insisted that it become a word of colour rather than an ordinarily coloured word in black ink. As Coco is the writer, he thinks that it should be for him not an editor with whom he cannot speak to decide whether a word required some form of emphasis, and in any event, emphasis in a sentence can often be achieved for a word simply by a repositioning or change of word order, so of something else Coco had to think.
To congratulate the gold awards winners at the JWC WU WHS (https://www.jwcwuwhsawards.com/) awards ceremony would be insufficient, they have worked hard for what they have achieved, but not in order to win an award, but rather to further the health of men and women. We were reminded this evening that John prayed for the Gaius (3 John 2) that he should prosper and be well [in his body] as he is well in his soul. The winners of the awards are engaged in this work.
It is invidious to single any of them out, and who is Coco to judge anyway, but he shall, and in compliance with good statistical practice he shall declare a significant data selection bias, and mention the ILF (https://www.lympho.org/), where Professor Christine Moffatt CBE is a trustee, and UTokyo, where Dr Gojiro Nakagami works on BioFilms which as you will all know are even more scary than Hitchcock films.
Finally, Coco takes the opportunity to remind you that should you know any young people with lymphoedema who have not yet completed the QOL survey, please do ask them to consider the LYMPHOQOL (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LYMPHOQOL) questionnaire. PostScript: Whilst the official survey closed late in 2022, and the results taken for analysis, from which reports are expected early 2024, the questionnaire is still available and entries being monitored. You may find the questions useful and helpful. If you leave personal details then the team may be able to follow you up.
If you wish to jump into the video of the awards ceremony, then you will find Professor Moffatt at 2566 and Professor Nakagami at 3282.
The 2020 JWC WUWHS Awards: ‘The Olympics of Wound Care’ These awards seek to recognise the hard work done by health-care professionals in all fields of wound care over the four years since the WUWHS 2016 conference. As with the JWC awards, these will highlight the great contribution that nurses, clinicians, scientists, researchers and academics make to the development of wound-care research and practice. The 2020 JWC-WUWHS awards are open for nominations now. The deadline is Friday 26 November, after which we will shortlist and ask our editorial board members and representatives of the associated societies to judge the top 5–8 nominees on a number of criteria. We also want to draw your attention to the Most Progressive Society award. This accolade is for the associated society who has made the biggest impact in wound care in the past four years. Download Flyer Here
If Coco said that the opinion that ‘A is safe’ is supported by 100 years of medical experience, and the opinion that ‘A is not safe’ is only supported by sixty such years, which opinion are you more likely to trust?
