John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Thank you. Pretty much sums up my own views. (Post- Zionist Jew, synagogue member, active in Palestinian causes, support a one state solution but have to accept that the vast majority of my Jewish friends still hope for another way forward. Cancelled Green Party membership yesterday.) 060
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I believe the Inquiry should have been paused until the CCRC considered the mass of evidence from international experts challenging the safety of Letby's convictions & the Court of Appeal judgement. This is not a view I've come to lightly, after believing the opposite. www.bmj.com/content/394/...bmj.comJohn Launer: Why I’ve changed my mind about Lucy LetbyThree years ago, the neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted for seven murders and six attempted murders of babies in her care. At the time I accepted the jury’s verdict that the allegations against h... 110
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...theguardian.comThirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unansweredDecision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction 110
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/20262. The overall point of my article isn't that I am certain of Letby's innocence but about the danger of taking a position of certainty and then reading everything through that lens only. 110
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I'll just make two points, then stop there: 1. Letby is careful to say "From the blood result, yes." She was clearly unqualified (as most of us are) to interpret them herself, so is here conceding that she has to go by the expert witness's interpretation. This has since been challenged....1/2 310
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026This is not a transcript but a summary by a court reporter and your paraphrase of it is inaccurate. 300
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026No-one reading my article attentively could (a) believe I presented myself as an authority figure (b) describe my position as "stanning" for Letby. You appear to have reached absolute certainty yourself, to which you are entitled. The theme of my article was that certainty can also be misguided. 100
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I don't read the transcripts in that way. The prosecution barrister put many propositions to her (as they always do), including inviting her to incriminate others. At times she was inevitably compelled to reply, in effect, "well if it was deliberate, it still wasn't me. 100
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Why I've changed my mind about Lucy Letby. My latest "Talking Point" column @bmj.com, just out. www.bmj.com/content/394/...bmj.com 461
Reposted by John LaunerNatasha Devon @natashadevon.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Perhaps 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. 19565124
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 14/08/2026I'm not sure if this is an unrelated advertisement or a photo of one of the other candidates. 010
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 09/08/2026When 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. 010
Reposted by John LaunerProf Sabena Jameel @syjameel.bsky.social · 05/08/2026If 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. 021
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Free conference on 28 October to celebrate projects in medical education supported by the Della Fish Foundation www.eventbrite.com/e/the-della-...eventbrite.comThe Della Fish Foundation Chester Conference 2026TDFF has funded numerous worthwhile medical education projects over the past 2 years, here we share the work and inspire new applicants 020
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/08/2026The 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 121
Reposted by John LaunerKoki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Reassurance 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 #MedicalGeneralismbjgp.orgCorrect, but not reassuringI 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 ... 011
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 20/07/2026I'm pleased the Footballers won in their match against the Mixed Martial Arts team. 0171
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Medical 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.comThe art of fidelity: clinical documentation and ambient AIA 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... 031
Reposted by John LaunerTim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 13/07/2026So many memes, so little time. Source: substack.com/@nigelfarage... 728679
Reposted by John LaunerKoki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 08/07/2026@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social 021
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 08/07/2026In 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.comJohn 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... 021
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 28/06/2026A lovely piece Koki. It opens up all kinds of questions about the value we place on reassurance (as opposed to listening, questioning, or any responses that are attentive rather than automatic.) 121
Reposted by John LaunerKoki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 27/06/2026@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social 221
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 22/06/2026May I be the first to say how disappointed I am in Andy Burnham since he became Prime Minister. 010
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 11/06/2026The 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 011
Reposted by John LaunerSebastian 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/... 022
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026How the Tavistock Clinic came to an end. A personal elegy. My latest "Talking Point" @bmj.com www.bmj.com/node/1123386...bmj.comJohn Launer: Elegy for the TavistockAt 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... 020
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Also possibly losing out are women cleaners in men's toilets (currently legal and happens commonly). Will cis women be banned - breaching their employment rights? Will trans women be allowed, contrary to the purpose of the ruling? Etc etc Highlights the absurdity and lack of reflection of it all. 010
Reposted by John LaunerTrish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Every 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.comDrowning Doesn’t Look Like DrowningDrowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. 253133919733
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026Abolishing NHS England entails 50% job cuts (and a disproportionately larger loss of organisational memory & wisdom, since those with best prospects elsewhere take redundancy). All set in motion with no plan beyond (including for workforce and education). And by a man who's now left. Insanity. 152
Reposted by John LaunerMiddle-East Tracker @me.skyfleet.blue · 12/05/2026A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948972mag.comA Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948When 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 . 011
Reposted by John LaunerTibor M. Kalman @kalmantibs.bsky.social · 09/05/2026I 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 27115
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Medical 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 010
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026All of them, to judge by the young doctors I speak to. Many are leaving through a combination of debt, lack of recognition (no firms, so consultants may not even know their names), uncertain career progression, Daily Mail headlines etc. I suspect the pay restoration issue is a symbol for this. 041
Reposted by John LaunerFactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 18/04/2026Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani sing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ to kids in NYC 792199483
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Mandelson was patently unfit for office all along. The commentary is as irrelevant as the pantomine of "security clearance." A responsible leader would have fallen about laughing at the first suggestion he could be US ambassador. 010
Reposted by John LaunerKoki Kato @kokikatokk.bsky.social · 14/04/2026@joannelreeve.bsky.social @johnlauner.bsky.social 011
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 14/04/2026The 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 040
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 05/04/2026Excuse me, it probably did when he was half that age. 031
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 01/04/2026Is 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 000
Reposted by John LaunerThe 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.comLonging for My Tehran | Orly NoySince 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 011
Reposted by John LaunerThe Guardian @theguardian.com · 09/03/2026Britons don’t want any part of Trump’s war fixation – the sooner Labour realises that the better | Owen Jonestheguardian.comBritons don’t want any part of Trump’s war fixation – the sooner Labour realises that the better | Owen JonesKowtowing to US foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan had disastrous consequences. Why are leaders making the same mistake again, asks Guardian columnist Owen Jones 2320838
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 08/03/2026...and each knee has two menisci, except in females who have womenisci. 010
Reposted by John LaunerMehdi 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.comEXCLUSIVE: I’m the Palestinian Who Has Been in ICE Detention for Almost a YearDon't forget us on International Women's Day, writes Leqaa Kordia. 1825861039
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 07/03/2026You'll probably earn a lot of points for doing that. 020
Reposted by John LaunerZack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Dear Shabana, Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives. 24348681780
Reposted by John LaunerJohn Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Being 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/... 041
John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Being 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/... 041