Testing is one of the most important strategies we have to control the COVID pandemic, yet it seems difficult to implement well, at scale.

Dr Nick Murch is a highly experienced cold water and open water swimmer, as well as a consultant physician in acute medicine and medical education at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Nick will give you tips on how to break down a daunting challenge into bite size tasks, and the way small improvements compound over time. We’ll of course also cover his COVID experience, and what he’s learnt about the disease so far.

Recently, there have been many reports about Vitamin D and its role in the immune system. But what do we really know about Vitamin D and COVID-19, and how will the last months of lockdowns, travel restrictions and working from home have affected our Vitamin D levels?

It is rational that different countries take different approaches to manage an outbreak, such as what we’ve seen with COVID-19? And how can you tell the difference between fake news and real facts in the midst of a pandemic?

Health economics helps us understand how to improve health outcomes and lifestyle patterns through interactions between individuals, healthcare providers and clinical settings. Broadly speaking, it helps answer questions such as what is health and what is its value? Sam Stoddart helps us understand the basic health economics concepts; their benefits but also their limitations.

This week we’re making a deep dive into hematology, the medical speciality of blood disorders. A simple blood test can open up a world of valuable information about what’s going on inside our bodies, and hematologist Dr. Joel McCay guides us through some of the most common problems to look out for. Blood also contains many key players of our immune system, and inevitably the conversation gravitates towards COVID-19 immune responses and antibody testing, as well as some other recent learnings from the pandemic.

Will and Anna discuss their top 5 predictions for how healthcare will evolve over the coming decade. Do you agree, or do you have a different view on what's going to happen? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

In our second episode with marketing expert Rory Sutherland, we discuss what medicine can learn from marketing, social lubricants, the sport of gamified walking, and why there needs to be more personalisation in medicine. Rory also shares his thoughts on why there is cold pasta in pre-made salads, and his somewhat unorthodox view on nicotine use.

Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy vice chairman, TED talk superstar and self-acclaimed behavioural science groupie joins us to share his knowledge of human behaviour. Rory and his marketing colleagues use this information to affect how people behave, and we’re keen to learn how we can use this knowledge to improve our own healthy care behaviours. Tune in to learn more about angry bridges, behavioural fatigue, solving problems you don’t know you have and the true reason for why ski trips should be banned.

If you’re curious on the books mentioned in this episode, you can check them out here:

If you have any questions, comments or feedback on this episode, we'd love for you to get in touch via e-mail: [email protected] or, if you make a post on social media, please tag us using #wdgll.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking appropriate medical support because of something you have heard on the podcast.

Richard Breeze is a Consultant Intensivist leading the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lewisham Hospital, one of London’s hardest hit intensive care units. What is it really like at the ICU during a raging pandemic, and who is most likely to do well on life support? We’ll also cover testing, treatment options (or lack of), immunity, and when you should seek hospital care for Covid-19.