Robin Conibere

Image of a young woman of East Asian heritage with a laptop on her lap. Words read: Polypharmacy Action Learning Set. Join our Polypharmacy ALS to help build GP and prescribing healthcare professionals' confidence in and understanding of the complex issues surrounding stopping inappropriate medicines safely. This course is for GPs and other primary care prescribers with a minimum of 12 months prescribing experience. 3 June, 17 June and 1 July 2026. 9:30am to 12pm. Delegates must attend all three sessions.

Are you a GP or primary care prescriber? Would you like to build your confidence in stopping inappropriate medicines safely?

Then we'd love to see you at our Polypharmacy Action Learning Set starting in June: https://www.healthinnowest.net/event/polypharmacy-action-learning-set-june-july-2026/

👀 Did you post this to my office? Written with pink/purple ink? I'd really like to talk to you if so, I can protect your identity but what you sent was really important but not enough on its own. Get in touch via DM email etc... Pls RT.

A comprehensive public health approach is needed to study the impact of digital technology on health Barely a day goes by without media and political concern about the impact of digital technology on health, particularly among young people. The publication of a recent government report, “Understandin...

"Research should not only be independent of vested interests but must also be seen to be so"

My @bmj.com piece with @fphuk.bsky.social president Tracy Daszkiewicz argues we need a public health approach to study the impact of digital technology on health.

#CDOH

www.bmj.com/content/392/...

Delighted to be attending the NIHR South West Research Delivery Network #PrimaryCare Research Symposium today. 😊

That physician will hardly be thought very careful of the health of his patients if he neglects his own. Galen 129-216 AD

Successfully completed the Cape Town Cycle Tour with Tom Wishart!

109km. 1148m elevation gain. 5:13:21 riding time. Bucket list cycle. Strava flyover link in comments.

Compassion is medicine: a patient safety perspective In this blog, Risa Mallory draws on personal experience, her advocacy knowledge, and research to explain why compassion is critical to patient safety.

"In a healthcare landscape increasingly defined by technology and efficiency metrics, compassion grounds us in what truly matters—the human relationship at the centre of healing."

Compassion is medicine: a patient safety perspective. A new blog by Risa Mallory.

A person is standing against a blue illustrated background and holding a large photo of a child wearing a pink top. To the left, text reads ‘Lee Chan – Insight lead.’ At the bottom, a yellow text box contains a personal statement about choosing a career in applied social research in government and encouraging others from similar backgrounds to consider this path.

A person stands against a colourful background with abstract shapes and holds a printed photo of an elephant next to two people outdoors. Text at the top reads: ‘Dr Alicia Demirjian – Consultant Epidemiologist and Clinical Lead for Antimicrobial Resistance and Prescribing.’ A yellow text box at the bottom contains a message encouraging curiosity, asking questions, striving for excellence, working hard, and enjoying the journey as well as the destination.

A person stands against a green and blue illustrated background with science-themed icons and holds a printed photo of a child wearing a purple dress and standing outdoors. Text on the left reads: ‘Dr Marie Chattaway – Unit Head of Gastrointestinal bacteria reference unit.’ A yellow text box at the bottom contains a message about discovering a career in microbiology, being open to opportunities, exploring, asking questions, learning from failure, being brave enough to try, and moving forward without needing to have everything figured out.

A person stands against a bright blue and green illustrated background with science-themed icons and holds a printed photograph of a child wearing a dress and standing outdoors. A yellow text box on the left displays the name ‘Oyebimpe Balogun’ with the title ‘International Health Regulations Strengthening Project, Nigeria – Technical Adviser for Laboratory Systems.’ A larger yellow text box at the bottom contains a message describing an early visit to a bottling company in Sokoto, Nigeria, observing young people performing quality control tests, and how this experience inspired a future career in laboratory science. The message encourages determination, resilience, and transforming obstacles into stepping stones toward success.

Did you see these stories from some of our female scientists recently?

On #InternationalWomensDay, we thought we would reshare them to celebrate the incredible contributions women make across UKHSA. 🔬🧪

The story of the Paper Boat. A British Geriatric Society blog from 2018. Let me know if you’d like the full text & I’ll send it to you.

The story of the Paper Boat was a blog I wrote back in 2018 for @gerisoc.bsky.social.

It was an analogy that I found useful to explain to patients and families how difficult it can be to predict the future accurately.

Now as I and my friends get older, I find myself sharing it once again.

🧵1/n

Chris Whitty’s ‘tour de force’ at MJA Annual Lecture mjauk.org/2026/03/06/c...

Sir Chris Whitty: Relying on weight-loss drugs to stop obesity would be 'societal failure' England's top doctor says the drugs should be for a minority and more effort is needed to prevent obesity in the first place.

We love you whitty!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Anticholinergic drug burden and incident cardiovascular events: a population-based study - BMC Medicine Background Drugs with anticholinergic properties are commonly used in older adults for various medical conditions, but the long-term cardiovascular consequences of cumulative exposure have not been we...

Common anticholinergic medicines may raise cardiovascular risk
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
People who use drugs with anticholinergic effects, drugs for urinary incontinence and common antihistamines, are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease
medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03...

BREAKING:

The Justice Department just posted online three FBI interviews that had been missing from the massive trove of Epstein files initially released.

They're related to unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump.

DOC 1: www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

bsky.app/profile/priv...

IPSO have published their verdict on The Daily Telegraph’s fake £345,000-a year banker couple who claimed they couldn’t afford five holidays.

The paper declined to explain to the watchdog how the article came to be published - but our reporting at the time sets it out…

On 12th March 1-2pm we welcome Emma Bines, system pharmacist for a Clinical Masterclass on 'A system approach to polypharmacy and medicines optimisation for older people'.

Register to join! https://ow.ly/zoij50YmiqI

📢Coming up: Next in our webinar series:📢

'Tackling polypharmacy in primary care: Reflecting on learning from the IMPPP clinical trial'

📆Wednesday 25 March 2026
🕛1-2pm
🌐Online

Contributors: Dr Jenny Scott, Dr Deborah McCahon & Prof Rupert Payne

👉 Register: tinyurl.com/2s4e4y3w

#GPsky #PharmSky

💡 "Anticholinergic Burden" refers to the cumulative anticholinergic effect of all medications taken by an individual.

A helpful systematic review has compiled available anticholinergic burden scales, comparing them based on factors such as included medications & scoring systems:
buff.ly/ExUaJoT

Vote now to have your say on the 2026/27 GP contract which is being imposed on GP practices in England. GPs are being asked to do more and more, list sizes and GP-to-patient ratios are expanding while continuity of care is shrinking.

The worst thing about these scans is that they then send the worried well scampering to their GPs, taking up scant NHS time and resources. I don't care if rich people spend their money on garbage, but I do care if it impacts on others who are genuinely unwell.

The Boris Johnson Fanzine has for a generation been an abject turd of a publication, and it’s good to see that IPSO won’t let it mark its own homework over its blatantly making shit up: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03...

Michael Marmot: Labour has reneged on its child poverty promises Lifting the two child benefit cap is an important step but will still leave 4.15 million children in poverty, Marmot tells Elisabeth Mahase Michael Marmot, the UK’s leading expert on health equity, ...

"About a third of children are now growing up in poverty."

Michael Marmot, the UK’s leading expert on health equity, urges Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take bold action to tackle child poverty in this interview with The BMJ
https://bit.ly/40rQ5Ip

New report. Insulin: supporting safe self-administration for patients in the community with a mental health problem.

Action is needed to improve access to specialist diabetes care for adults who self-administer insulin and live with a mental health problem. Gaps between services are putting vulnerable patients at risk. Read the report: buff.ly/Q6LwQtI #Diabetes #MentalHealth #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek

Updated polypharmacy prescribing guidance. 'Appropriate Prescribing - Making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2025-2028' aims to further improve the care of individuals taking multiple medicines through the use of 7-Steps medicine reviews and promotes a holistic approach to person-centred care.

Polypharmacy Guidance: appropriate prescribing, making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2026 - 2029 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
#Pharmsky

www.gov.scot/publications...

It's not too late to register for the 4th Annual Focus on Geriatric Pharmacotherapy Virtual Conference, happening this week on March 4th! 🗓

Get updates on our new statin deprescribing guidelines, along with other exciting topics in geriatric medicine!

Register now:
lnkd.in/eSiF9vJV

This is basically why, at least in medicine, I think it's a fool's errand to pretend like we are estimating effects. I think it's much more realistic to frame it as evaluating claims, and accepting that at some point residual uncertainty will have to be left to clinical judgement.

I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend | Devi Sridhar Forget snake yoga. All it takes to increase your life expectancy is factoring a set of simple exercises into your weekly routine, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the Universit...

Sensible, evidence based advice here from Devi.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is great to see. Are @rpharms.com and @pcpa-uk.bsky.social still active on twitter? For the RPS a good opportunity here when transitioning to a royal college to state their intent to leave

Proof that pressure from members works! Keep telling your professional bodies that they should not be engaging with the cesspool anymore. Well done to @thebcs.bsky.social, about time 😉 Go follow them on here. And I’ll see UK cardio friends at the BCS conference this summer!
#cardiosky

Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today, starts removing 695,000 archive links If DDoSing a blog wasn't bad enough, archive site also tampered with web snapshots.

I discovered it after reading about Wikipedia blacklisting another archive site after some pretty nefarious behaviour arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...