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John Launer

@johnlauner.bsky.social
1K followers 239 following 308 posts

Doctor, educator, writer. Columnist @bmj.com Own views. Websites: www.johnlauner.com www.conversationsinvitingchange.com

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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered
Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Why I've changed my mind about Lucy Letby. My latest "Talking Point" column @bmj.com, just out. www.bmj.com/content/394/...
bmj.com
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Natasha Devon @natashadevon.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Perhaps we ought to take a moment to reflect on how many white male cishet privately educated non disabled men have been given jobs and promoted without question based on fabricated CVs, unfounded self-confidence and an embellished life story & whether we’ve even heard of them.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I'm not sure if this is an unrelated advertisement or a photo of one of the other candidates.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
When I was a student at Cambridge, I had a number of teachers I thought were bogus. None were black. If the university's selection process is unfit for purpose, as seems likely, they should examine a random sample of appointments from all backgrounds for plagiarism and confabulation.
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Prof Sabena Jameel @syjameel.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
If you have an interest in Values Based medical education with healthcare needing a moral underpinning, and you want funding for projects, this is for you.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Free conference on 28 October to celebrate projects in medical education supported by the Della Fish Foundation www.eventbrite.com/e/the-della-...
eventbrite.com
The Della Fish Foundation Chester Conference 2026
TDFF has funded numerous worthwhile medical education projects over the past 2 years, here we share the work and inspire new applicants
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The joy of improvisation: why good medical consultations and teaching resemble jazz more than following guidelines. My latest "Talking Point" @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
bmj.com
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Koki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Reassurance is not simply about giving the right answer. In my latest essay in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP), I reflect on why understanding the patient’s existing story may matter before our explanations can become meaningful. bjgp.org/content/76/7... #BJGP #MedicalGeneralism
bjgp.org
Correct, but not reassuring
I recently bought a new car. The old one was traded in, the paperwork was signed, and I assumed the matter was finished. Then a vehicle tax bill arrived in my name. > “Before we can reassure, we may ...
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I'm pleased the Footballers won in their match against the Mixed Martial Arts team.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Medical consultations are often now summarised by AI. How do we ensure AI captures the narrative as well as the medical facts - and prevent the clinical skills of writing and reflection from withering away? Out now @thelancet.com by Victoria Ekstrom and myself www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
The art of fidelity: clinical documentation and ambient AI
A physician reviews a note generated by artificial intelligence (AI) from her morning clinic. The patient, a woman in her fifties with type 2 diabetes, had spent much of the consultation describing he...
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
So many memes, so little time. Source: substack.com/@nigelfarage...
Count Binface on the beach as Farage rows away in a boat full of cash.
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Koki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
In my latest "Talking Point" column @bmj.com, I challenge the stereotype of GP work as simple or trivial, and introduce Anna Beug's brilliant metaphor of "mosaic care." www.bmj.com/content/394/...
bmj.com
John Launer: I hope GPs will continue to value “mosaic care”
A common stereotype of GPs’ work—held by some politicians and hospital specialists, as well as members of the public—is that we deal mainly with simple or trivial problems and refer everything else on...
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Koki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
May I be the first to say how disappointed I am in Andy Burnham since he became Prime Minister.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
The UK left the Erasmus scheme after Brexit - a pointless gesture, depriving our students of valuable opportunities to learn with their peers in Europe. We're now rejoining the scheme - a very welcome decision. My latest "Talking Point" column @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/393/...
bmj.com
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Sebastian Kraemer @sebkraemer.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
"the implicit erasure of the Tavistock Clinic's separate identity has attracted little publicity" @johnlauner.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/393/...
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
How the Tavistock Clinic came to an end. A personal elegy. My latest "Talking Point" @bmj.com www.bmj.com/node/1123386...
bmj.com
John Launer: Elegy for the Tavistock
At the end of March the Tavistock Clinic, along with its sister clinic the Portman, ceased to exist as an autonomous trust. The following day, all signage was replaced by the insignia of the conglomer...
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
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Middle-East Tracker @me.skyfleet.blue · 12/05/2026
A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948
972mag.com
A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948
When Nablus-based journalist Ahmad Al-Bazz received an Israeli travel permit, he rushed to visit nearly 200 villages depopulated in the Nakba. Five years later, his new book offers a powerful visual archive of erasure. The post A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948 appeared first on +972 Magazine .
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Tibor M. Kalman @kalmantibs.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
I can’t get enough of these kids. ❤️ This morning on the bus to Budapest, practicing for today’s performance at Péter Magyar’s inauguration. “Zöld az erdő, zöld a hegy is” — the Hungarian Romani anthem about their historic struggle as outcasts. 🙏🏼🇭🇺🕊️ 📹 Bácskai Napló
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Medical consultations go better when the doctor doesn't trying to control them like a politician, public relations spokesperson or marketing agent. My latest "Talking Point" column @bmj.com, just out. BMJ column 29.4.26. Doctors shouldn’t control the narrative www.bmj.com/content/393/...
bmj.com
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FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani sing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ to kids in NYC
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Koki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The doctor's dilemma: Mr X is resilient in spite of all his ailments, Mr Y seems overburdened by the same ones. How do we show equal respect to Mr Y, and plant the idea that we can be the partners of our illnesses rather than victims? My latest column @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
bmj.com
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Edzard Ernst @edzard.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Is being busy all the time something that doctors should be proud of - or a cause of more problems than it addresses? My latest "Talking Point" in @bmj.com just out. www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
bmj.com
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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 25/03/2026
“Throughout my many years as a political activist, I have grown accustomed to feeling anger at Israeli society,” Orly Noy writes. “But now it does not anger me—it frightens me.”
nybooks.com
Longing for My Tehran | Orly Noy
Since the outbreak of the current war between Israel and Iran—much like during the previous one last summer—I have been sought after for interviews by
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 09/03/2026
Britons don’t want any part of Trump’s war fixation – the sooner Labour realises that the better | Owen Jones
theguardian.com
Britons don’t want any part of Trump’s war fixation – the sooner Labour realises that the better | Owen Jones
Kowtowing to US foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan had disastrous consequences. Why are leaders making the same mistake again, asks Guardian columnist Owen Jones
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
“EXCLUSIVE: I’m the Palestinian Who Has Been in ICE Detention for Almost a Year” Writing for Zeteo from inside of prison on International Women’s Day, Leqaa Kordia asks us not to forget the female detainees being held and mistreated in ICE detention camps.
zeteo.com
EXCLUSIVE: I’m the Palestinian Who Has Been in ICE Detention for Almost a Year
Don't forget us on International Women's Day, writes Leqaa Kordia.
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Dear Shabana, Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.”
She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Being a GP often involves everything you'd assume: diagnosis, treatment, advice, reassurance... Surprisingly often, it's also about finding meaning in what life throws at you - for the doctor as well as the patient. My latest column @bmj.com, just out www.bmj.com/content/392/...
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Being a GP often involves everything you'd assume: diagnosis, treatment, advice, reassurance... Surprisingly often, it's also about finding meaning in what life throws at you - for the doctor as well as the patient. My latest column @bmj.com, just out www.bmj.com/content/392/...
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Helen Salisbury @helensalisbury.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
My latest on GPs' right to refer - and the talk of 'mandatory advice and guidance' which sounds like a threat to it. doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
doi.org
Helen Salisbury: The right to refer
The NHS has a longstanding ambition to bring down hospital clinic waiting times, and the cheapest way is by reducing referrals.1 Some referrals are simple, and the patient’s problem might be solved by...
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ShellsLies @shellslies.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
6 medics unanimously acquitted of criminal damage at JP Morgan’s, the largest financier of #FossilFuels. Health workers have a duty "to protect population health & to sound the alarm when state or corporate actions place lives, health systems & the conditions for life at risk," @healthxr.bsky.social
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Jeremy Corbyn in Parliament on why he never trusted, believed or appointed Peter Mandelson. Worth watching every minute. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uE...
youtube.com
My speech on Peter Mandelson.
YouTube video by Official Jeremy Corbyn Channel
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Extraordinary account of a family medicine service in Gaza in the midst of war. Testimony to the amazing resilience of the local staff involved. jbima.com/article/gaza...
jbima.com
Gaza Family Doctor Initiative in the refugee camp in the middle of Gaza during the war | Journal of the British Islamic Medical Association
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Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · 04/02/2026
👉NEW VIDEO -- Jury frees Palestine activists who smashed Israeli arms factory Six protesters have been found not guilty of aggravated burglary at an Elbit weapons site. We were at Woolwich Crown Court where family and friends celebrated the result👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0vl...
youtube.com
Jury frees Palestine activists who smashed Israeli arms factory - mums celebrate verdict
YouTube video by Declassified UK
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Just out: a fascinating collection of autobiographical essays by psychiatrists about how their personal struggles have intersected with their professional identity. Editor Glenn Roberts is one of the pioneers of narrative-based approaches to psychiatry and psychotherapy. personally-speaking.com
personally-speaking.com
Personally Speaking – Personally Speaking
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Do you recognise this dramatic view? If you do, please don't say. If you don't, please hazard a guess and reply.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Do you work for the #NHS and have you had a belly full of it? One A&E consultant did - literally. She's written a gripping book about it. Here's my review in @bmj.com, just out. @heidiedmundson.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
In an instant, Labour MPs who believe in observing international law have been turned into targets for hatred, called "Maduro Apologists." Seriously, how can anyone be taken in by this absolute bullshite?
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
The five countries exporting the most narcotics to the USA are Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Afghanistan and China. The country with the largest oil reserves in the world is Venezuela. It really isn't very complicated.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
I had to tweak the prompt several times, but I finally got an AI bot (Deepseek) to stop congratulating me on how excellent all my questions were.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
My latest challenge to AI bots. Unlike humans, they can't give a straight answer.
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
The doctors studied for their exams amid hunger, displacement and bombardment. The hospital's medical director said the ceremony defied Israeli efforts to dismantle Palestinian society: 'They sought to destroy Palestine's human capital ... but failed' www.haaretz.com/gaza/2025-12...
haaretz.com
Gazan medical students graduate in ceremony amid ruins of Al Shifa Hospital
The Doctors Studied for Their Exams Amid Hunger, Displacement and Bombardment. The Hospital's Medical Director Said the Ceremony Defied Israeli Efforts to Dismantle Palestinian Society: 'They Sought t...
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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/must... As a British Jew, as a child of Holocaust survivors and a baby refugee from Nazis this makes ashamed of the country that gave me refuge. We should be celebrating these people as heroes not condemning them to martyrs’ death.
jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk
Must hunger strikers die before David Lammy takes notice?
Concern is growing for members of the Filton 24 group of direct action pro-Palestinian protesters who are on hunger strike…
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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
In this part of the 'Fighting for the Soul of General Practice' In Conversation mini series, special guest John Launer joins Rupal Shah and Jens Foell as they discuss the impact of earwax. Listen here 👉https://youtu.be/jQtzaZP_790 #InConversation #FightingfortheSoulofGeneralPractice John Launer
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