healthmatters issue 26

Published Summer 1996

Editorial
- Reality checking: do it regularly for better health
News
Columns
- News from nowhere
- Why has it taken so long to achieve so little?
  
  The need for effective procedures for complaint has been present since the birth of the NHS. Charles Webster asks why the new system is weaker than one proposed over 20 years ago
Features
- Better primary care led than primary care dead
  
  The greatest crisis in general practice in over 30 years is being met with government indifference, says Brian Gibbons
- Why giving ‘facts’ isn’t enough
  
  A morality-free approach to drugs education doesn’t sit easily with a desire for healthy cities, argues Robin Burgess
- Has the tobacco industry finally met its match?
  
  In the wake of a recent courtroom success, anti-smoking campaigners are pinning fresh hopes on litigation in the battle against the tobacco industry. Monisha Bhaumik reports
- Learning to say what you want
  
  As another asylum approaches closure, Mandy Garner reports on the vital work of the MIND advocacy service
- A prescription for better informed patients
  
  India’s first health education resource centre has opened in Bombay. Its founder, Aniruddha Malpani, explains what’s on offer
- Listen without prejudice
  
  Women with chronic illnesses see doctors more often than most of us — which makes them ideal observers of medical attitudes to women, says Veronica Marris
- Just keep taking the tablets...
  
  Shamsul Alam and Myra Garrett explain how correcting patient misunderstanding can improve care, reduce the risk of harm—and save money into the bargain
- Information as therapy
  
  There are multiple benefits to providing health service users with the information they need. Jane Sweetland reports on the experience of the Health Facts centre in Bristol
- Promoting a clear vision for health
  
  Improving the public health is a key responsibility of health authorities. Yet the professional resources and organisational structures to support this role seem to be in disarray, argues Lee Adams
Reviews
- What do users want?
  
  COMMUNITY CARE: ASKING THE USERS
  Gail Wilson (ed)
  Chapman and Hall, 1995
- Say it in Spanish
  
  Say it in Spanish: a guide for health care professionals
  EV Joya, ME Villanueva
  WB Saunders, 1996, £11.00
- Let’s talk about sex
  
  Sexual health promotion in general practice
  Hilary Curtis, Tony Hoolaghan and Carey Jewitt (eds)
  Radcliffe Medical Press, 1995, £15.00
- Care in whose community?
  
  ’Race’ and community care
  Waqar Ahmed and Karl Atkin (eds)
  Open University Press, 1996, £12.99
- A book of revelations
  
  OUT OF MIND, OUT OF SIGHT: EXPERIENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS
  Yorkshire Arts Circus with the Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies, Sheffield University, 1996, £5.95
- Clear pages on key ages
  
  Birth to old age: health in transition
  Basiro Davey (ed)
  Second edition
  Open University Press, 1995, £12.99
- Heartfelt but hazy
  
  The invisible hospital and the secret garden: an insider’s commentary on the NHS reforms
  John Spiers
  Radcliffe Medical Press, 1995, £18.50
- Toxic and shocking
  
  The Coming Plague
  Laurie Garrett
  Virago, 1995, £20.00
Letters
- Go green and stay in the black
- Time to do without ‘the elderly’
Column
- What are the limits to health promotion?