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The process of medical innovation

You’ve got an amazing idea for a new device. It is going to change how your speciality of surgery is practised. It will lead to better operative results and lower risks to patients – that’s amazing, can I see it?...

OBITUARY: Alan Gibb (1919-2020)

Alan Gibb, who passed away on 5 September aged 101, was the Grand Old Man of British Otology. He slipped quietly away at home on Deeside from the long-term consequences of a stroke about two years ago, from which he...

Anaesthesia under fire

Kate Prior is an anaesthetist who has, quite literally, been there, done that. In this article she manages to use words on a page to bring to life some of the conditions and challenges she faced as a member of...

Sugammadex

Scott Russell is an anaesthetist with an almost unrivalled experience of complex head and neck surgery, and has seen all manner of new ideas come and go. However, in this article he describes a new pharmaceutical agent that is already...

Leadership and maximising resources: the view from Brazil and Venezuela

Norma de Oliveira Penido, Priscila Bogar from Brazil and Sajidxa Mariño from Venezuela, leaders in otolaryngology, discuss their career journeys, the advantages and disadvantages they exerienced along the way, and the current state of ENT practice for women in South...

Middle ear reconstruction in children: why, when and how

Every ear in every child is different. Rob Nash discusses the rationale behind reconstructive ear surgery in children and his philosophy on timing and techniques of reconstruction. It is rare for middle ear pathologies to be life threatening. Indeed, it...

Worldwide picture of candidacy for cochlear implantation

Who should get a cochlear implant? Candidacy is one of the most important and widely discussed topics in the field of cochlear implantation. Here, Chris Raine and Debi Vickers outline cochlear implant candidacy in the UK, and compare this with...

Matthew Clark: full-time otologist, spare-time sculptor

Drilling a temporal bone may seem like torture to some trainee surgeons. To others it is but a stepping stone to something altogether grander... I took Art A-level a year early so as not to interfere with the ‘important subjects’,...

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...

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...

A small company’s perspective

In this article, we hear from Alan McNulty, Director from Sheffmed, an SME (Small – Medium Enterprise), who have supplied surgical instruments, consumables and video systems to ENT clinicians for over 12 years. Alan outlines some of the choices and...

The role of training programmes in protecting patients

ENT trainees are fully registered doctors who have responsibilities to comply with the requirements of Good Medical Practice. This includes ensuring that they put the interests of their patients at the heart of their practice. This duty is complementary to...