Part 2 of 2. Part 1 is here. In my first article, I described the patchwork (“duct tape”) that keeps many public hospitals going: paper records, siloed electronic systems, shared documents, local lists, WhatsApp messages and a great deal of human memory and improvisation. What should hospitals do about this? A March 2026 paper from …
Part 1 of 2. Everyday care in a South African hospital A sick child arrives in casualty. A clerk records the admission. The doctor writes in the paper folder. Blood tests and x-rays are ordered. Results appear later on a laboratory portal, imaging in another system. The ward team keeps its own task lists and …
Maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes are good indicators of whether a health system works, and for whom. In rich countries, preventable maternal deaths are concentrated in poor neighbourhoods and marginalised populations. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) they reflect deeper and broader system failures that overwhelm clinical services. In both contexts, digital twins offer …
Development of artificial intelligence (AI) is moving along two distinct paths. The last decade has been centred on large language models (LLM) that generate fluent text by predicting the next word in a sequence. A newer approach focuses on building world models – systems that learn how the physical world behaves and changes over time. …
World models and word models: layers of the AI cake Read More »
Albert Invent is a new software platform for chemists and materials scientists – the people who combine substances in the lab to make products for the modern world. The company doesn’t disclose who or what it is named after. Albert Einstein seems the reasonable guess. But an even better fit is someone further back in …
It’s common for private doctors in Mexico City, and across Latin America, to wake up each morning and be greeted by 100 or more WhatsApp messages. The messages typically contain urgent clinical concerns mixed with routine administrative requests. Often, no clinical record is available at the point of review to help the practitioner deal safely …
WhatsApp is part of healthcare: how can it be used safely and reliably? Read More »
Two Stories, One Dilemma A 52-year-old non-smoking accountant books a comprehensive health scan. He feels well, has no symptoms, and attends mostly because a colleague recommended it. The CT scan shows a small lung nodule. It’s biopsied and turns out to be an early cancer. Surgery removes it completely. He returns to work a month …
I use a wearable continuous blood pressure monitor, a device likely to transform hypertension diagnosis and treatment. My broker urged me to do the annual “Discovery Wellness Experience”, which offers “Diamond Status”, hence rewards – coffee! It didn’t feel like a Wellness Experience when the Discovery person reported my blood pressure (see below) as 143/81, …
How and why I continuously check my blood pressure Read More »
Introduction Despite being underfunded for over a decade, and now in “critical condition”, the UK’s National Health System (NHS) has significantly invested in personalised medicine. These initiatives include the pioneering 100,000 Genomes Project, genetically based cancer screening, and personalised prevention. Proponents argue these programmes will improve outcomes and reduce pressure on the healthcare system. Critics …
Personalised prevention: fattening the cow or just weighing it? Read More »
Clinicians thrive on solving their patients’ health problems The responsibilities of medical practice can be heavy, but despite the challenges and complexities, or perhaps because of them, clinicians generally find clinical work rewarding. High levels of workplace frustration and burnout currently reported in multiple countries and settings are not intrinsic to the clinical aspects of …
Operational failures in primary care: AI solutions? Read More »
