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  • Prof Hilary Thomas
    Comment

    Hilary Thomas on treating lymphoedema in the community

    2009-05-26T12:51:00Z

    One of the most heart sinking conditions an oncologist encounters during his or her career is lymphoedema. I use the term “heart sinking” with some embarrassment but, if I am really honest, this is one of those afflictions that made me feel powerless as a clinician.

  • Hilary Thomas
    Comment

    Hilary Thomas: NHS branding vs NHS trust

    2009-04-05T12:00:00Z

    After more than two decades in the NHS, the concept of a brand had never consumed much of my intellectual energy. However, over the past year, I have been involved in two different re-branding exercises and have been thinking about what it really means.

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on NHS clinical governance and the credit crunch

    2009-02-11T09:00:00Z

    I had the good fortune to attend a breast cancer conference in the US recently. Nearly a decade after I stopped treating breast cancer, this was in my role as a trustee of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

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    Hilary Thomas on clinical-managerial networks

    2008-12-15T01:00:00Z

    I have had the worst cold I can remember for some years - and every time I get on the Tube somebody sneezes on me. The economy is depressing, the weather has been depressing and the built-in obsolescence of collapsible umbrellas convinces me their manufacturers did not consider the eventuality ...

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    Hilary Thomas on NHS top-ups

    2008-11-03T09:00:00Z

    I approach the subject of NHS top-ups with some trepidation. The issue is complex and there are no easy answers. Considering it from the cancer perspective, I will attempt to throw light into some dark corners of the debate.

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    Hilary Thomas on caring for the whole patient

    2008-09-22T09:00:00Z

    My 75-year-old father has recently had a coronary angiogram and been referred for bypass graft surgery. When I was a cardiology senior house officer in the Jurassic period, he would never have been referred for such surgery at this age.

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    Hilary Thomas on healthy competition

    2008-08-11T09:00:00Z

    The right sort of competition in healthcare is a prescription for huge gains in quality and efficiency. But while this can be encouraged partly through attractive incentives, have we been too lenient in pursuing more punitive measures?

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    Hilary Thomas on clinical governance and values

    2008-07-02T09:00:00Z

    An old friend has just been in touch, having found one of my HSJ columns through Google.

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    Hilary Thomas on changing healthcare

    2008-05-19T09:00:00Z

    The past year has been one of huge transition for me, professionally and personally. I have phased out seeing patients and crossed to the dark side, which has been a stimulating and steep learning curve.

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    Hilary Thomas on working towards collaboration

    2008-04-07T09:00:00Z

    These days, I rarely forage for myself in the evening, so frequently do I attend dinners of one sort or another. They attract an interesting cross section of people - managers and clinicians, as well as some who are both, policy wonks and observers, all discussing how the NHS is ...

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on challenging NHS rhetoric

    2008-02-08T16:03:35Z

    One of my enduring impressions of the NHS is that of mythology. Not the classical Greek type representing animal/human chimaeras but perhaps equally contradictory. There are a number of platitudes which people love to cite: “free at the point of delivery”, “the GP as gatekeeper”, and first prize has to ...

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on

    2008-02-08T16:03:35Z

    One of my enduring impressions of the NHS is that of mythology. Not the classical Greek type representing animal/human chimaeras but perhaps equally contradictory.There are a number of platitudes which people love to cite: “free at the point of delivery”, “the GP as gatekeeper”, and first prize has to go ...

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on new perspectives on caring

    2008-01-14T09:00:00Z

    Looking back, 2007 was an odd year for me. Making a career change has been inspiring and invigorating. The fact that it coincided with moving back to London, putting a year of treatment behind me and the clunky dawn of my sense of mortality and ordinariness has added to my ...

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on clarifying the NHS insurer-provider divide

    2007-11-19T09:00:00Z

    Separating the NHS’s purchaser and provider functions more clearly would help everyone who works in the service focus unambiguously on their purpose

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    Hilary Thomas on promoting diversity in the workplace

    2007-10-15T09:00:00Z

    To truly celebrate diversity in the NHS, it is crucial to see beyond stereotypes, writes Hilary Thomas

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    Hilary Thomas on differing points of view

    2007-08-28T18:06:00Z

    Regulations should enable hospital and community settings to work together on care appraisals, says Hilary Thomas

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    Hilary Thomas on trust and safety

    2007-07-23T00:00:00Z

    'Imagine hearing: 'This is your junior pilot speaking. I have no particular interest in your safety.''

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    Hilary Thomas on her honeymoon period

    2007-06-18T00:00:00Z

    'I am like a pig in the proverbial. I am no longer part of a demoralised, cynical workforce, ground down by the inevitability of stasis and rigidity'

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    Hilary Thomas on reconfiguration and supercasinos

    2007-02-05T00:00:00Z

    2007 is promising to be a good year. I'm an optimist - it has to be!

  • Comment

    Hilary Thomas on living with cancer

    2007-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Becoming a patient has been a salutary, levelling experience