tl;dr - in the last financial year NHS England spent £21,170.37 on 866 homeopathic items. In the last calendar year (2020) it was £28,597.58 on 1,004 items.
For the latest figures there are two files as NHS BSA has made a change to their system - there's now a calendar year version and a financial year version.
NHS Homeopathy Spend - England 2020-2021 - document 1 of 2 (summary Doc)
NHS Homeopathy Spend - England 2020-2021 - document 2 of 2 (summary Sheet)
I'm a bit late with this post (usually publish these annually in April) but I have been diligently and enthusiastically collecting film listings of open air screenings taking place in London and adding them to this Google Sheet: http://bit.ly/OpenAirCinemaLondon2021
If you know of one I've missed please let me know.
As of 20 June 2021 there are over 400 films still to come, several free screenings and 220 already done. There are over 200 unique films being screened and some sing-alongs of Grease, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman. There are a few drive-in screenings too (these increased in 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic).
1. Advice for film-goers / things to bring
2. List of film screenings
This list is as accurate as I can make it but there will always be smaller events that are advertised locally that I may not hear about. Grateful for any tip-offs :)
1. Version for mobile phones (scroll up/down or left/right)
2. Wider version for desktop / web (scroll up/down or left/right)
The original embedded sheet was a bit cramped. The embed code didn't include anything for height and width that would let me improve this but I found out where to add it from this post.
3. Organisations screening films in London in 2021
(some may be screening in other cities too)
Note that Somerset House is not hosting an open air film festival in 2021.
TL;DR: FREE seminar tomorrow from 14:00 BST on "intelligent medical decision support systems and the underlying technology" with a bit of chat at 4.30pm about outreach which may be of interest for science communicators / public engagement with science folk.
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Tomorrow there's an afternoon seminar to talk about, and to close, the EPSRC-funded Pambayesian project which has recently ended. The project looked at ways of helping doctors and patients make treatment decisions about particular health conditions (the examples under investigation included diabetes in pregnancy (aka gestational diabetes) and rhematoid arthritis) using computer science (specifically Bayesian Networks) to 'weigh' different pieces of ('risk') information. As you can see from the agenda below Bayesian Networks can be used in all sorts of health-decision-making scenarios.
I was involved in helping to produce an issue of our computing magazine for schools (CS4FN, Computer Science For Fun) which talked about Smart Health and included several articles on the Pambayesian project. I wrote a couple of articles myself. It was rather nice to be able to write about diabetes again, as in a previous life I was one of the Science Information Officers at Diabetes UK and wrote nothing but stuff about diabetes back then :-)
My boss Prof Paul Curzon will be speaking about outreach at 4.30pm and you can read the Pambayesian issue of CS4FN as a PDF here (free print copies are already on their way to subscribing UK schools, if you're a teacher please use the purple form here to sign up or invite your child's teacher to sign up). You can also explore the magazine's articles individually on the CS4FN blog.
When: Tuesday, June 8, 2021, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where: Zoom
The PAMBAYESIAN (PAtient Managed decision-support using Bayesian networks) is an EPSRC funded project to develop a new generation of intelligent medical decision support systems to help both patients suffering chronic conditions and clinicians treating them.
The project ends on 30 June 2021 and there will be a final project open Seminar that will take place on Zoom on 8th of June 2021 from 14:00 to 17:00.
You can join the seminar using the following link: https://qmul-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/85147764196
The event will include presentations on the development of intelligent medical decision support systems and the underlying technology. There will be time for discussion of both the technical issues and future exploitation.
Agenda
2.00-2.10: Prof Norman Fenton: Introduction and overview of the PAMBAYESIAN project
2.10-2.20 Dr William Marsh: Overview of the Bayesian Network (BN) clinical models
2.20 – 3.10 PAMBAYESIAN rheumatoid arthritis application
2.20-2.30 Dr Amy MacBrayne: The clinical perspective
2.30-2.40 Dr Hamit Soyel: User interaction
2.40 –2.50 Ali Fahmi: The BN model
2.50- 3.00 Chris Robson (Living With): Integrating the model into a commercial platform
3.00-3.10 Discussion
3.20- 3.50 PAMBAYESIAN diabetes in pregnancy application
3.20-3.30 Prof Graham Hitman: The clinical perspective
3.30-3.40 Mariana Raniere Neves: The BN model
3.40-3.50 Discussion
3.50 – 4.10 Extensions of PAMBAYESIAN
3.50-4.00 Dr Scott McLachlan: The caremap approach
4.00-4.10 Morghan Hartmann: PAMBAYESIAN additional cases studies - Multiple Sclerosis and Pelvic Floor Syndrome
4.10-4.30 PAMBAYESIAN BN technology
4.10-4.20 Dr Maggie Wang: The dynamic BN modelling challenge
4.20-4.30 Dr Eugene Dementiev: The BN deployment challenge
4.30-4.40 Prof Paul Curzon: PAMBAYESIAN impact and outreach
4.40-5.00 Discussion
More details on PAMBAYESIAN: https://pambayesian.org/
Summary: Homeopathy UK, formerly the British Homeopathic Association (BHA) has had its second (in two weeks) Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudication upheld against its marketing.
Edit 20 May 2021: Les Rose has submitted a Serious Concern to the Association's Trustees about the failure to meet the public benefit requirement of the Charities Act (the Association is registered as a charity). I've also re-arranged bits of the post below and added a Table of Contents for clarity.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Table of Contents
1. Preamble
2. My ASA complaint
3. Further reading
4. Screenshots (that go with (2))
1. Preamble
On 5 May 2021 I spotted that the ASA had published its rulings including one about Homeopathy UK. As I also had a complaint about Homeopathy UK's website in the pipeline I was a bit puzzled and initially assumed it was mine (until I read and discovered that the complaint was made by the Good Thinking Society) and that mine was next in the queue.
I didn't know that GTS had put in a complaint, and to be fair I don't think I'd mentioned mine to them either so they happened independently. I see from the statement** put out today by Homeopathy UK that they suspect we're all working together behind the scenes on these complaints but that wasn't the case in this particular instance - I'm not sure if they realise that several people keep an eye on homeopaths' (and homeopathy societies' and associations') websites.
The story has been picked up in The Times (including an opinion piece) and Mail Online. Prof Edzard Ernst has also written about it and it's also in the BMJ (see 3. Further Reading).
Below is my original complaint, I've not included the follow up discussions though as you can read the final output in the adjudication. My complaint didn't mention depression but it's not that unusual that the ASA might add in another concern after looking at the information for themselves. I did mention a page about cancer which has also been taken down - normally that would be referred to Trading Standards but presumably no need for that now it's been removed.
I've deliberately mangled the links that no longer work in the text below - if you want to visit them (all links now point to the main 'conditions' landing page anyway) you'd need to paste them into a browser address bar and delete the ^^.
2. My ASA complaint: relevant screenshots are at the end
Why is the British Homeopathic Association (now known as Homeopathy UK) allowed to have a page on its website listing almost 50 conditions "where homeopathy can help"? https://homeopathy-uk.org/homeopathy/how-homeopathy-helps/conditions
None of that is true and several of the conditions are quite serious (allergies, asthma, cancer (!), circulatory problems, Crohn's etc). Each of these pages is written by a single author, drawing on their experiences of treating people who have the relevant condition. Of the 4 pages I've viewed in more depth (below) no evidence is offered beyond purely anecdotal.
I was amazed to see cancer included (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/
Later on that page the author references this rather theatrical example "Along with Mistletoe injections, I also prescribed X-ray 30c on the morning of radiotherapy, along with Belladonna in the afternoon, both of which have been shown in one placebo-controlled trial to reduce the inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues that is caused with radiotherapy" - I can only wonder how diluted X-rays are prepared, or what they might be supposed to do.
The diabetes page (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/
The page on infertility (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/
The page on psoriasis (https://home^^opathy-uk.or^^g/
Jo
3. Further reading
ASA Adjudications against Homeopathy UK aka British Homeopathic Association
**Homeopathy UK have shared their "A message from our Chief Executive" statement several times on Twitter (though apparently not on Facebook) and the quote tweets for several of them are rather more critical. If you've been blocked and need to view the tweets in a private window while logged out you won't be able to see them via the Quote Tweet button (it requires login). Ignore that and just paste each link below into the search bar or visit https://twitter.com/explore - this, in essence, shows you mentions of that tweet (logically identical to the quote tweet format).
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395005017741041671
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395046861581455362
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395281901116608515
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395402698388873226
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1395674487429996546
https://twitter.com/bhahomeopathy/status/1396460917001494532
4. Screenshots (these were attached to my original ASA complaint):
Homeopathy UK 01 - list of conditions
Homeopathy UK 02 - list of conditions
Homeopathy UK 03 - cancer and diabetes
Homeopathy UK 04 - infertility and psoriasis
On a Sunday in January 2009 a friend and I went to see Kind Hearts & Coronets in a squat at 39A Clarges Mews, Mayfair. It was part of a week long series of events and classes under the 'Temporary School of Thought' banner. As it was so close to Burns' night we took some veggie haggis from Fortnums around the corner. There were lots of people there admiring the incredible property and the ornate wallpaper etc and I got chatting to some of the squatters. One of them - Lucky Jimm / luckyjim - was hosting the film screening and I later came across his blog, which was an amazing read. Here's what I said about it in 2011.
"In an equivalent of discovering a book that you just can't put down, since coming across his blog I've been hooked, beguiled, ensorcelled (feel free to throw the thesaurus at this, as one word won't do) by the writing and can only hope he gets a shift on and writes a book. I usually read blogs because I'm interested in the topic and nice writing is a pleasant bonus. In this case the topics (squatting, gambling, cycling and drinking) aren't of particular interest to me but the (often poignant) mix of humour, angst, frankness and occasional whimsy has meant that I've found the blog electronically unputdownable."
Sadly a few years later his blog, outlining his 'degenerate lifestyle', had entirely disappeared and none of it is available on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine either though a few of his guest posts on other people's blogs are still extant, along with a Reddit AMA he did a few years ago.
He moved his blog to a poker site so I signed up to read them there. Literally never played a poker game in my life but I enjoyed his writing that much. At some point that site went down ('gutshot', doesn't sound very comfortable) but I chatted to him several years later on another poker site, wishing him well and hoping he'd write a book. I will have to see if I can find the site, log in and say hello* ;) I vaguely remember something about a Hendon mob and various poker-playing groups but it's not my world so I've not kept up with any of it.
I'm hoping he's still alive and well and has a life that gives him pleasure, but I also hope he's written a book or two, or that he has a career writing something. If you know him don't tell me who he is (Lucky Jimm is obviously an assumed name!) but do tell him some random from 2009 and the internet hopes he's doing well :)
Lucky Jimm's guest posts on Harry's Place blog
A Trip To The Ocean (20 May 2009) - about the Ocean Estate which, weirdly, is the bus stop I sometimes alight at when going to work, at Queen Mary University of London.
Free (4 February 2010) - writing about Katharine Hibbert's book (she was a journalist who squatted to write about it, later lost her job and started to squat in earnest)
Outside Alexander McQueen's Flat, 5pm, Thursday (15 February 2010) - as a courier Jimm had collected packages from McQueen's offices.
I squatted mansions in Mayfair, London. AMA! (29 January 2010, date of archive capture) - Reddit
Temporary School of Thought (13 January 2009) - Londonist's visit.
*I created an account on the '2+2' poker forum but I can't work out how to send a message to anyone and am very much out of my depth haha so I will probably leave it for now.
Table of Contents 1. Things that have made me laugh so much I couldn't breathe 2. Things that have made me chuckle 3. Context So...
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