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Changing behaviour with a human factors approach

The Francis Report (2013) identified multiple problems relating to the safety culture of Stafford Hospital in the period 2005 – 2009, as well as serious failings in the supervisory and regulatory systems of the NHS. Particular criticism was directed at...

Development of the iAudiometer™

Why the iAudiometer™? We have developed six versions of a new software called iAudiometer™ that performs an array of different audiometric tests using an iPad with standard transducers (TDH-39 headphones, B-71 BC, aural domes, or inserts) (Figure 1; Table 1)....

Time to professionalise medical leadership

For a profession proud of its adherence to an evidence base, medicine has been remarkably slow to acknowledge and to act on the evidence which underpins the value of good leadership to patients and the healthcare system. Mr Robert Francis...

Seven things ENT surgeons can learn from the hairdressers

In a nod to our origins as barber surgeons, Australian ENT surgeon and blogger Eric Levi gives us an entertaining insight into what he has learned from his hairdresser that makes him a better doctor. I’ve been to the hairdressers...

Why does music move us? Music as auditory signals of emotion

Music forms an integral part of the lives of people in all known cultures around the world. In this article Dr Sandra Garrido explains that in fact, our response to music is largely innate and is related to the evolutionary...

HPV and ENT; should we vaccinate boys?

David Black and Charlie Hall reiterate Vin Paleri’s pleas for a common sense evidence-based approach by those who allocate healthcare resources to the now urgent issue of HPV-related disease. They discuss the merits of different vaccines and the need for...

Cochlear implantation for single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss

Continuing our sub-theme of cochlear implantation candidacy, Richard Irving and Raghu Kumar review the principles and benefits of cochlear implantation in individuals who have an asymmetric hearing loss. It is well known that cochlear implantation improves auditory capacity, and in...

Laryngology: past, present and future

Two laryngological authorities trace the history of laryngology, from ancient Rome to the modern day. The structure of the vocal folds was a matter of conjecture until the renaissance when anatomists such as Andreas Vesalius and Julius Casserius demonstrated the...

True Cut – a dramatic biopsy from the world of surgery

True Cut is a stage play that asks: “What happens when things go wrong in healthcare?” It brings the hidden world of the operating theatre onto the theatre stage. ENT surgeon, David Alderson, talks about how the play came about....

Mentally and physically safe workplaces: the challenge of doctors’ well-being

Our ENT consultant colleague Eric Levi bravely tackles the very real elephant in the room of that stigma which is not really discussed until it is often too late. It takes courage to tackle a difficult topic like doctors’ mental...

The development of endoscopic sinus surgery – a meeting of three great minds

The story of the development of endoscopic sinus surgery is inextricably linked with the names of Stammberger, Messerklinger and Storz. Karl Storz’s daughter, Sybill Storz, tells us more. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation of...