From the editor

摘要

A long established tradition in the Foreign Office has recently come to light that, despite surviving numerous changes of government, upheaval and wars, was brought to an abrupt end in 2006. An outgoing ambassador, whose reports were usually a model of circumspection, had complete freedom to write whatever they wished in their final message home - about the post that they were leaving, the governments that they had served or the diplomatic service itself. The reports were particularly candid when written by a retiring ambassador. Many of these dispatches have recently been obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and broadcast by the BBC. They have subsequently been published as a series of essays.What an opportunity arises to follow the example set by the ambassadors and throw caution to the wind in my penultimate editorial (my final editorial, introducing the new editor, will feature in the August issue). Contributors to the journal have, of course, always been free to express their own opinion and a disclaimer is carried in each issue clarifying that the opinions expressed in each article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). Most contributors, however, are still influenced by the weight and authority of the RCP which seems to exert control over their pen, or at least their laptops, and adds prudence to their freedom of expression.