Committed to first-class journalism
As the print version of The Doctor magazine comes to an end, all of us here at the BMA are determined to continue offering award-winning journalism for you our members and doctors online
Being BMA council chair is an incredible privilege for me for so many reasons.
It’s been an honour to lead the medical profession through unprecedented industrial action but it has been your organised commitment to our shared goals that has delivered real improvements for doctors.
With this unity we are becoming a stronger fighting trade union while our expertise as a professional association navigates scientific, ethical and controversial matters important to you as our members.
I’ve enjoyed introducing The Doctor magazine to you each month. Our publication has put doctors at the absolute heart of everything we have done – it has represented our members, advocated for our members, and amplified the voices of our members.
The 74th issue of the magazine is most likely the final in print as we move to our new online home at thedoctor.bma.org.uk to enable us to bring you more content. There are no measures of success by which the print magazine hasn’t succeeded – its writers have won numerous national awards, competing against national news organisations with huge budgets and large staff rosters.
It has increased the external influence of the BMA, too, with our investigations often featured across the wider media and having significant influence across the health landscape, and even in Parliament.
We are tremendously proud of our achievements and we will continue to invest in high-quality journalism online to ensure we can tell the stories of our members and our profession and keep investigating the issues which affect doctors, the NHS and society, with the same commitment and dedication as the digital transformation of the BMA takes place.
In the final print issue we hear from doctors working in emergency departments in some of the most deprived areas of the country, speak to refugee doctors hoping to work in Northern Ireland, and find out about the staff fighting back against cyber threats such as ransomware attacks.
We also tell the story of a GP making a home visit to a lonely, older patient and transforming her Christmas. Small kindnesses can have a big effect, so I hope we can all do something to make it a better festive season for everyone.
BMA council chair Phil Banfield
