Phil Whitaker

England

General medical practitioner💙, medical commentator, medical editor @NewStatesman, novelist. Author of 'What Is a Doctor?' out now from @canongatebooks

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Articles

Medicine’s profit motive

2 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

For the first 25 years of my medical career, I didn’t buy a pen. Free writing implements were in plentiful supply at every educational event I attended, dished out by drugs reps and emblazoned with the names of their latest products. Then there was the medical kit: when taking blood, I still use a tourniquet bearing the name of a once-popular heart failure treatment. More gimmicky items included cuddly toys and stress balls.
We lose more than pounds when we substitute weight-loss jabs for exercise

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

Exercise makes us feel good – certainly after the fact, if not always during it. The explanation has seeped its way into popular culture: endorphins. The name is a portmanteau of “endogenous”, meaning produced within the body, and “morphine”, a drug that, like heroin, is derived from the opium poppy. Our brains produce endorphins in response to injury, illness or stress and, just like morphine, they relieve pain and generate a sense of well-being.
Q&A: The hidden crisis in the NHS

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker |Hannah Barnes

https://embed.acast.com/6b2fc9ba-b9b7-4b7a-b980-e0024facd926/67c0811f9f453431224d9d20?theme=light&cover=false Hannah Barnes: Amanda Pritchard has portrayed her resignation as voluntary. Do you think that’s necessarily the case? Phil Whittaker: I wouldn’t like to comment, but I think if she hadn’t gone, she would had to have been ousted, I’m afraid.
AI in breast cancer screening may do more harm than good

2 months ago | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

The EDITH trial – announced by the government to coincide with World Cancer Day on 4 February – aims to recruit 700,000 women to investigate the use of AI in the breast cancer screening programme. Currently, every mammogram (X-rays designed to pick up signs of cancer) is read by two radiology specialists to minimise the chance of mistakes. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health trial will replace one of these human doctors with an AI diagnostic tool.
NHS England has no idea about GPs

2 months ago | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

Ben put the boxes of medications on my desk. “Do I need to carry on with any of them?” he asked. The labels were in an unfamiliar language but there were enough similarities to the English names that I could work out what each was: two different antibiotics, two types of painkillers, and a decongestant that can be purchased over the counter here. “Did they say what was wrong?”Ben had developed a persistent headache during his holiday.
It will take more than cash to repair the NHS

Jan 6, 2025 | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

Gordon Brown’s April 2002 Budget speech remains one of the few memorable political moments of my lifetime. I can still recall how I felt hearing him announce what he described as a “kiss of life” for the NHS – £40bn additional funding over five years, paid for by hikes in National Insurance. I qualified as a doctor in 1990 and my entire 12-year career to that point had been spent in a service blighted by years of Conservative government.
Christmas disease is not as festive as it sounds

Dec 5, 2024 | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

Christmas disease, first described in 1952, has faded into history. A group of researchers in Oxford analysed blood samples from a five-year-old British-born Canadian boy called Stephen Christmas. Since he was 20 months old, Stephen had suffered abnormal bleeding, which had been ascribed to “haemophilia”, though the specifics of his case didn’t quite fit.
Rachel Reeves’ Budget will stabilise the NHS - but only reform will save it

Nov 6, 2024 | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

On the face of it, the figures sound huge. Rachel Reeves’ first budget included an additional £22.6bn for day-to-day health service spending, plus £3.1bn extra towards capital investment. There is some sleight of hand at play: those sums are spread across two years and represent a real-terms annual increase of 3.8 per cent. This is the level at which health service inflation has historically run, so the budget has for now put the NHS back on its long-term trend.
For assisted dying to work, GPs need to know their patients

Oct 30, 2024 | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

A friend asked recently whether I would provide assisted dying if Kim Leadbeater’s private members’ bill were passed into law. She was surprised at how readily I said I would. She had expected equivocation – one of the arguments against medical assistance in dying is that it would fundamentally change the role of doctor from life-preserver to life-extinguisher, which would undermine the trust placed in us by patients. My view is that it would improve immeasurably what we already do.
Making a new weight-loss drug available on the NHS will break the system

Oct 9, 2024 | newstatesman.com | Phil Whitaker

To cross the Rubicon is to pass a point of no return, and the NHS is fast approaching one. Last November, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted an additional licence for a type-2 diabetes injection, Mounjaro, to be used in obesity management. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is considering making it available on the NHS.