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Ruairidh Milne

Ruairidh Milne

@ruairidhm.bsky.social

1.4K followers 100 following 120 posts

Long Covid since March 2020.
“Nothing about me without me” - doesn't seem unreasonable.
Previously: health research, public health, technology assessment and appraisal
Also some Shetland!

Economics 37%

Public Health 23%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Martin McKee, Ruairidh Milne

Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 3d

Here’s ten of the best papers I published this year (thread).
1. A rapid systematic review of the UK literature on physician associates. With @martinmckee.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Physician associates and anaesthetic associates in UK: rapid systematic review of recent UK based research

Objective To summarise research on the efficacy and safety of UK physician associates and anaesthetic associates in the context of an ongoing policy review. Design Rapid systematic review. Search st...

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 5d

Over a week ago @elstorreele.bsky.social & I raised serious questions about the still unpublished (if it actually exists) U.K. US Pharma “deal”.
Pleased to see that @chionwurah.bsky.social has written to DHSC asking the same questions as we did.

committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...

Life sciences: Science and Tech Committee presses government for details on US trade deal - Committees - UK Parliament

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee Chair, Dame Chi Onwurah, has written to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health, and Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Science and Technology, f...

committees.parliament.uk

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Dan O'Hara @skeuomorphology.bsky.social · 6d

The PCR positivity map is out and even where there are hotspots it's (mostly) good news this week.

I'll cover covid first, then flu.

jamestindall.info/skeuomorphol...

1/8

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Chris Ponting @cgatist.bsky.social · 8d

Reminder, #MEcfs researchers: all consented data from @decodemestudy.bsky.social is available to researchers, including individual-level genotypes and symptom questionnaire responses

institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk/decodeme-the...
Summary stats & questionnaires available: osf.io/rgqs3/files/...

Researcher Access | DecodeME : The world's largest ME/CFS study | Institute of Genetics and Cancer

To accelerate research towards possible diagnostic tests and treatments for ME/CFS, DecodeME has built the world’s largest data set on ME/CFS, as a managed access resource for future research projects...

institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Catherine Munro @catherinemmunro.bsky.social · 8d

Winter light #Shetland

Shetland pony in foreground some houses and sea in background. Warm sunset light

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne, Margot C. Finn

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 8d

🧵1/ The Christmas @bmj.com is always an opportunity to use satire as a vehicle for serious health messaging. Borrowing from Jonathan Swift, I ask, if public health is to “work with industry,” why stop at alcohol and gambling? Why not go all the way… and collaborate with organised crime?

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, John Drury, Tim Bale , and 3 more Brigitte Nerlich, John Drury, Tim Bale, Ruairidh Milne, Christina Pagel, Nicole Guenther Discenza

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 8d

🧵1/ Flu is surging again, & patterns look uncomfortably familiar. The lesson from covid remains unchanged: individual responsibility isn’t enough. We need systemic measures that make protective behaviours easy. @profstevegriffin.bsky.social Stephen Reicher & I offer some thoughts @bmj.com

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Paul Glasziou @paulglasziou.bsky.social · 9d

Fewer guns; more Ahmeds please: “Ahmed al-Ahmed … took the gun off that perpetrator at great risk to himself and suffered serious injury as a result of that, and is currently going through operations today in hospital,” Albanese said. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

‘It was a matter of conscience’: Ahmed al-Ahmed’s family reveal why he risked his life to disarm alleged Bondi shooter

Family say al-Ahmed ‘doesn’t discriminate’ and would have done anything to save lives during the attack

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Mary Dixon-Woods @marydixonwoods.bsky.social · 9d

A story about people having to pull their own teeth from @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Getting dental data right might not be glamorous, but it's going to be a key element of solving the problem. www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Ruairidh Milne @ruairidhm.bsky.social · 9d

that is some serious planning ahead on their part
!

Ruairidh Milne @ruairidhm.bsky.social · 12d

That's wonderful to know, Ian!

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne, David D. Buck

Greg Fell @felly500.bsky.social · 12d

www.bmj.com/content/391/...

An effective public health response to the next pandemic demands learning from past mistakes

Public health needs proper funding, effective lines of communication, and support for its workforce to respond to future emergencies
@tracyd-ph.bsky.social @fphuk.bsky.social

An effective public health response to the next pandemic demands learning from past mistakes

Public health needs proper funding, effective lines of communication, and support for its workforce to respond to future emergencies, writes Tracy Daszkiewicz The UK covid-19 inquiry’s second report...

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 14d

We are building a resource hub that will support educators of children and young people with Long Covid and overlapping illness.

Thanks to all our #volunteers who make this possible.

www.longcovidkids.org/education-pr...

#Education #Inclusion #EquitableEducation #SEND #Disability

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Harlan M. Krumholz @hmkyale.bsky.social · 14d

Do clinical trials expire?
New heart attack studies show that evidence from 1980s may not apply to patients in 2025.
Beta blockers are a case study in how medicine evolves, and how slowly our evidence base often keeps up.
My latest Substack:
neverdelegateunderstanding.substack.com/p/do-clinica...

Do Clinical Trials Expire?

What Beta Blockers Teach Us About How Medicine Learns

neverdelegateunderstanding.substack.com

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 16d

1/ "Nisreen Alwan, a public health specialist at the University of Southampton, UK, also wants to see more research characterising the public health burden of post-infection conditions."...
#LongCovid
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Long-COVID research just got a big funding boost: will it find new treatments?

The German government has committed half a billion euros for research on long COVID and other post-infection syndromes.

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne, Els Torreele

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 20d

7/ The UK must choose:
🔹 A public health system balancing innovation & affordability
OR
🔹 A US-style model of soaring costs & widening inequalities.
Transparency & accountability are non-negotiable.
Read the full article here: www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Who are the winners and losers of the UK-US pharma deal—it depends which side you believe

Behind the UK’s “landmark” pharma deal with the US lies a costly surrender, with higher drug prices, weaker safeguards, and vague promises of investment, write Els Torreele and Martin McKee When the...

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 20d

6/ Big selling point - increase in NICE cost effectiveness threshold. But £30k to £35k a 16% increase and if prices increase by 25%, well ... something commentators seem to have missed (emphasising need to question what one is told)

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne, Els Torreele

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 20d

🧵1/ The UK-US pharma deal is being sold as a “landmark” win for patients and innovation. But behind the headlines lies a costly surrender, as @elstorreele.bsky.social & I explain @bmj.com

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Kieran Walshe @kieranwalshe.bsky.social · 20d

Good report from @nuffieldtrust.org.uk and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on the abolition of NHS England. Strikes a sceptical tone about rationale, process and likely impact. I'd probably be more sceptical. Full report at www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/defaul.... I liked this graphic!

Ruairidh Milne @ruairidhm.bsky.social · 20d

thank you both for what you do!

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Long Covid Support @longcovidsupport.bsky.social · 21d

Did you catch Mike Ormerod’s powerful testimony at the Covid Inquiry last week?

Mike has Long Covid and volunteers with Long Covid Support. He gave evidence on behalf of Long Covid groups at Module 9 “Economic Response”.

Standout quotes (there are many!) Part 1 🧵👇

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Alison Hill @dralisonhill.bsky.social · 22d

This year has broken wind and solar energy generation records.

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne, David D. Buck

Nuffield Trust @nuffieldtrust.org.uk · 23d

We've responded to reports that the NHS will pay a higher price for branded new medicines as a condition of a UK-US trade deal.

Read the statement from @sallygainsbury.bsky.social 👇

Nuffield Trust responds to reports that NHS will pay more for branded new medicines

Sally Gainsbury responds to reports that the NHS will pay a higher price for branded new medicines.

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk

Reposted by Rita Rubin, Ruairidh Milne

Hilda Bastian @hildabast.bsky.social · 25d

More progress internationally on next generation Covid vaccines – with a setback in the US:

- More good news on the vaccine for people with immunosuppression

- Progress in intranasal vaccine trials in France & the US ....1/2

absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/11/30/m...

More Progress on Next Generation Covid Vaccines, and a Setback in the US (Update No 35) - Absolutely Maybe

Last month’s update ran long, so this one covers less than a month – but there’s still a lot of news. There…

absolutelymaybe.plos.org

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 28d

New data that supports metformin as a potential intervention to reduce #LongCovid www.authorea.com/users/100423...

Metformin at the time of Covid-19 infection and risk of Long Covid: A Target Trial Emulation Study

Background: Our objective was to evaluate metformin prescribed at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the risk of developing Long Covid (LC) in electronic health record data. Methods: We conducted a n...

www.authorea.com

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Nikki Smith @nikki-s.bsky.social · 29d

📣 Shout out to Mike Ormerod from Long Covid Support who is giving evidence to the @ukcovid-19inquiry.bsky.social today. Thank you Mike for all your incredible hard work, despite your own battle with #LongCovid.

Link for #CovidInquiry livestream below. ⬇️

Agenda for Wednesday 26th November 2025 for the UK Covid Inquiry. Text reads Start time
10:00 am
Morning
The Rt Hon. Baroness Thérèse Coffey DBE PC (former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions)
Afternoon
The Rt Hon. Baroness Therese Coffey DBE PC (former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) Continued Mike Ormerod Attending remotely (on behalf of Long Covid Support)
End time
4:00 pm

Reposted by John Drury, Ruairidh Milne

Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · Nov 23

Let’s never forget rationing ventilators and Zoom funerals. Boris Johnson and his cronies partied while our loved ones lay dying alone. COVID-19 was the worst public health crisis in a century. We should have locked down earlier. To some of us, PPE was not a get-rich-quick commodity.

Tweet announcing death of Trish’s mother from covid on 28 Dec 2020

Trish and her mum

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Alastair H. Leyland, Elizabeth Stokoe , and 3 more Stephan Lewandowsky, Alastair H. Leyland, Elizabeth Stokoe, Martin Paul Eve, Ruairidh Milne, Christina Pagel

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · Nov 23

Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

Ruairidh Milne @ruairidhm.bsky.social · Nov 22

"Increasing NHS drug costs would cause thousands of preventable deaths, widen health inequalities and harm the British economy – whilst doing nothing to encourage genuine life sciences investment"

Greg Fell @felly500.bsky.social · Nov 22

www.doctors.net.uk/news/caving-...

just saying..........
nobody really cares about detail thesedays, or experts. But Karl really IS an expert who has done the detail.

The UK caving to pressure to pay more for drugs will cost lives

Increasing NHS drug costs would cause thousands of preventable deaths, widen health inequalities and harm the British economy – whilst doing nothing to encourage genuine life sciences investment, argu...

www.doctors.net.uk

Reposted by Ruairidh Milne

Greg Fell @felly500.bsky.social · Nov 22

www.doctors.net.uk/news/caving-...

just saying..........
nobody really cares about detail thesedays, or experts. But Karl really IS an expert who has done the detail.

The UK caving to pressure to pay more for drugs will cost lives

Increasing NHS drug costs would cause thousands of preventable deaths, widen health inequalities and harm the British economy – whilst doing nothing to encourage genuine life sciences investment, argu...

www.doctors.net.uk