A “deadly wave of missile strikes” launched by Russia on 8 July has destroyed a large part of Ohmatdyt, a major children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, the UN has reported.1UN human rights chief Volker Türk “deplored” the attack which severely damaged the intensive care, surgical, and oncology wards of Ukraine’s largest children’s referral hospital. The toxicology department, where children receive dialysis, was also destroyed.“Among the victims were Ukraine’s sickest children,” Türk said. “My team visited the site shortly after the attack and observed children receiving treatment for cancer in hospital beds set up in parks and on streets, where medical workers had quickly established triage areas among chaos, dust, and debris.”At least seven people were killed at the Isida medical centre after a missile was intercepted above the women’s health facility. The attacks on 8 July are reported to have killed at least 34 people in total, and injured a...

The new Labour government has promised to increase the proportion of NHS funds going to general practice and “bring back the family doctor” so as to “fix the front door of the NHS.”Health secretary Wes Streeting’s first major policy announcement came on a visit to a general practice, where he said he wanted to “shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community.”“Patients are finding it harder than ever to see a GP. Patients can’t get through the front door of the NHS, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need,” he said on a visit to Abbey Medical Centre in London on 8 July. “That’s no surprise, when GPs and primary care have been receiving a smaller proportion of NHS resources. I’m committed to reversing that.”Streeting also said, “We are committed to bringing back the family doctor, so patients can see the same doctor...

Rimmer explores the idea of doctors, especially those early in their career, having a “side hustle” as a means of generating additional income.1Unlike most professions, doctors in the modern day face unique challenges when it comes to manoeuvring the legal, ethical, and professional hoops of pursuing economic interests outside of medicine. There is a standard that must be maintained, and the consequences of failure can be dire.The NHS presents itself as a lifetime employer, offering doctors stable income and career progression. It has a monopoly, however, and there is often little choice but to accept the working conditions and remuneration with which one is presented. Growing dissatisfaction with the NHS among young doctors, coupled with the current cost of living crisis, means it is no wonder that they may wish to bolster their income and explore options outside of the traditional medical pathway. For many, however, it may not be...

bmj;386/jul08_10/q1493/FAF1fa Ross McHardy (left), respiratory physician John Crofton (centre), and a colleague (right)Ross McHardy lost his father when he was only 10, but was influenced by an aunt who was public health officer for West Lothian. An outstanding student at school in Linlithgow and Stirling, he obtained open scholarships to Wellington School and then to Brasenose College in Oxford where he graduated in animal physiology. During his clinical studies at Middlesex Hospital he won most of the prizes and published papers from his studies, graduating with the Oxford MB in 1957. Throughout this period he nurtured a talent for music, playing piano and organ.His pre-registration posts were at the Middlesex Hospital and included obstetrics, in which he added a diploma to his qualifications. In 1959-60 his national service in the Royal Air Force led, unusually appropriately, to a posting at Farnborough, investigating high altitude decompression on aircrew. Further publications in...

bmj;386/jul08_9/q1488/FAF1faDavid Allden Lloyd was born on 11 May 1940 in Natal, Union of South Africa, the eldest of three brothers. His passion for medicine—and community—developed through his father and grandfather in his rural childhood home of Dundee; both were family doctors serving the town and its associated township.In 1958 Lloyd arrived in England to study medicine at King’s College, Cambridge. Following posts in London and Norwich, he spent a year training in Cardiff, where a lifelong passion for Welsh rugby was born during trips to Cardiff Arms Park, the soaring pre-match anthems and a mutual antipathy to the English team conjuring memories of his homeland.In 1969 he returned to South Africa as a surgical registrar at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital, scrubbing-in with Christiaan Barnard on some of the world’s first heart transplants. At his next post, at the Red Cross Memorial Children’s Hospital, he met his future wife Carol,...