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John Launer

@johnlauner.bsky.social
1K followers 240 following 309 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 · 05/10/2026
Thank 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.)
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I 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.com
John Launer: Why I’ve changed my mind about Lucy Letby
Three 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...
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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
2. 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.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'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
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is not a transcript but a summary by a court reporter and your paraphrase of it is inaccurate.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
No-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.
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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I 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.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
A 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.)
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Also 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.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Abolishing 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.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
All 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.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Mandelson 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.
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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 · 05/04/2026
Excuse me, it probably did when he was half that age.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
...and each knee has two menisci, except in females who have womenisci.
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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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John Launer @johnlauner.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
You'll probably earn a lot of points for doing that.
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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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