Yabadabadabadooo .... :-)

“Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic has problems, the psychotic has solutions.”

Le voila! Another article in the guardian urging the public not to trust docs! ... Another teaser!

As we have already established that all senior doctors are a bunch of crooks and criminals, this time it's a 'do not trust the juniors' article! Reason ... they are all incompetent actors! ... hehe :-)

"As a fellow neurotic said to me recently, anyone who has ever sat through a medical student revue can't help but feel insecure about putting one's life in these people's hands. How can we be sure that the very moment we leave the consulting room, our GP isn't setting our catalogue of woes to a jaunty Donald Swann-style ditty?"

Well, you can't Rebbeca! .. and since you realise you're 'neurotic', you are already on the first step to recovery! But, you'd be lucky if the GP passes your file to a 'jaunty Donald Swann-style ditty' instead of calling all secure mental facilities to arrange you an urgent admission! .. and I now understand why the wise say 'the neurotic are nailed to the cross of their own fiction!' ... I'm glad you are seeking help though, even if it is accupuncture! Needles are good for you .. go for it ...:-)

So, there you are docs, not only are your juniors totally devoid of any medical knowledge, but senior GPs are so twisted, they will still pass desperately in need of attention cases, like Rebecca's, to the green twats regardless!

She then goes on to suggest that hypochondriacs should be drafted in to do junior doctor's assessments, which would of course seem like a good idea to a neurotic, to draft psychotics in! After all, they both compliment each others! Soulmates make the best teams, don't they?! .. then, it's the acting bit:

"You may have heard the story of Sir Laurence Olivier watching Dustin Hoffman as he ran around furiously to create an impression of breathlessness in the film Marathon Man. Olivier, disdainful of such alternative acting techniques, reportedly said: "Try acting, dear boy." Such waspishness will be commonplace, I fear, in every surgery in the land. You only have to look back at the student revues to see that they're all just frustrated actors, after all."

Well, hey docs, she's comparing you to two top class actors .... so, she does know your caliber afterall ... that's nice ..

I'm begining to really like them up there, if only for their hilarious sense of humour ... :-)

And guys, the 'kids' have already signed their name ... leave them alone ...

Better go prepare for my clay pigeon shooting session now .... PULL!

Isn't life beautiful?! ... A miracle! ... :-)




“I disregard the proportions, the measures, the tempo of the ordinary world. I refuse to live in the ordinary world as ordinary women. To enter ordinary relationships. I want ecstasy. I am a neurotic -- in the sense that I live in my world. I will not adjust myself to the world. I am adjusted to myself.”

And I can't click the articles in my 'In the media' news reel anymore :( It must be a hitch at blooger.com so, I hope it gets fixed soon and I am

REALLY SORRY ... :(

'One Family' ... not 'The Family!'

“They were becoming like a little Mafia. If one committed a mischief, the others would not tell.”

Shutting up people encourages injustice, bureaucracy, bullying, sense of guilt, and no feeling of 'belonging' ... result ... Fear, dishonesty, waste and incompetence
If I were the boss of a large organisation, I would encourage transparency, to talk, so long as it is done in a polite manner, criticism can be very constructive and aids unity; ONE family, harmony, loyalty. If those who criticize also propose solutions, regardless of how practical they are, there bound to be new ideas that will shine through and this ensures positive progress; aspiring and achieving excellence ... Jerusalem.
... and NO to 'whistle blowing charters!'

“If you're a young Mafia gangster out on your first date, I bet it's real embarrassing if someone tries to kill you.”

Noah's Ark

“It pays to plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.”

The thin white line is an article in The Guardian showing junior doctors' fears. It is a comprehensive list of fears such as the impact of WTD and the de-skilling of doctors o drive down wages ready for the privatisation of he NHS. Very well written by a junior doctor, it appeared on 22 Julu 2008. Yesterday, Lord Darzi Replied assuring the juniors that their fears were not take place in reality:

"The principles of MMC have recently been re-examined by the MMC programme board, which brings together stakeholders including NHS Employers and the medical profession to ensure the future programme has widespread support. Benefits already delivered include fairer and more objective recruitment processes, more clearly defined person specifications and provision for more rigorous and regular assessment.

There is further work to do, a key component of which is ensuring that the training programmes today deliver the doctors the NHS needs tomorrow."

And, no fear of mass unemployment. Then he says :

"In particular, the "modular credentialing" signalled by Lord Ara Darzi should further strengthen the ability of UK-trained doctors to meet the NHS's future needs for delivering safe, effective, patient-centred care."

I think this means revalidation will not pose a threat to doctors in training if they pass their modules successfully.

To me, this means that he did as he promised and with a reward on top.

He is also extending his hands to the seniors, the consultants(He already promised that no GP should fear change if they are good, please read my posts on Desert Island) , then this from the article:

"The consultant contract applies only to doctors' NHS employment. It has no bearing on the arrangements consultants agree for work outside their NHS employment (and some do undertake private practice in addition to their NHS work). It does not allow private providers greater control over doctors and the doctor patient relationship."

He is asking the seniors to 'sign up their name and unite behind him or face the alternative which is in his "logical song"

"Now watch what you say
Or they'll be calling you a radical
A liberal, oh fanatical, criminal

Or that change must happen because the current situation is untenable, Meaning more and more pressure on the seniors until they do accept or refuse at their own peril! FX's comment on Dr Grumble's say's it all.

But, if you do sign up your name, all pressure will stop:

Oh won't you sign up your name
We'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, oh presentable, a vegetable"

Since Lord Darzi was assigned the juniors problem, I have read a lot about him before I decided that he provided the best opportunity for the juniors. Remedy then decided to take the same stand after consulting it's members.

I haven't heard the Desert Island Disks programme itself except for the last few minutes and was not able to find his first choice song (Yekeghetsin Haikakan, Armenian choral music by Haissmavourk Choir) on youtube. But, that was because it is not a song but a hymn and the reason, IMO, he included it as his 1st choice is because The Armenian Church is the oldest western church, hence, choosing this piece is like taking an oath of honour, that he won't let anyone down but also that he won't give up on his Jerusalem dream (Seven seconds song - I'll be waiting ... for as long as it takes)

I trust Lord Darzi is going to keep his promise to save the juniors. This reply of 28 July is proof. I feel he intends to do the same with the seniors and the GPs ...

You need to unite ... or ... fall!

What do you think, is this an opportunity to unite?

What is the alternative?

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”

Rivers and bridges ...

“Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.”

I am now in Cairo and the 'kids' have returned to Britain. It's nearly 2am and I am sitting with a few cousins and my parents, who are in their 80s but are incredibly bright and very active. There is around 20 of us sat on comfy low arm chairs by a table in a restaurant com sit at leisure place called Casino built as a floating platform on the edge of the Nile. Everybody is giggling, talking at the same time or doing somthing stupid, like playing back gammon. And the weather is beautiful; you really feel somewhat drunk every time the breeze blows, poetic! Not that I have ever been drunk before but who said you need alcohol to get this sensation of being 'wobbly' for a while ... It's really in the mind but, of course the secenery does help if it is like what I see before my eyes now ... it is absolutely stunning at this time of the night in Cairo ... by the Nile, the most beautiful river in the world ... and there is a wireless hotspot too ... they must have made it for meee :-)

Forget about my crazy cousins for now, but my father is a retired civil engineer who specialised in bridges all his working life. As my parents still live in the same place, very close to the Nile in the centre of Cairo, he used to, and still does, take me with him on walks by the Nile to admire the bridges he helped build or just sit somewhere and have different bridge constructions explained to me, in detail .... he's never given up on me understanding and appreciating the glory and the art of building bridges to this day ... I used to get bored stiff when I was a child but, that's how I developed my current appreciation and love for bridges, especially suspension bridges ... :-)

Now that I feel a little home sick, I'll forget about the Cairo bridges because you wouldn't know them and it is my turn to talk to my father about bridges ... breifly. One of my most favourite in Britain is the Clifton suspension Bridge in Bristol and it is normal for me to just take the car for the drive from London to Bristol, spend 1 or two hours by and around the area then drive back home the same day. It is a beautiful piece of art by the master engineer Brunel. A suspension Bridge over a very deep gorge, mostly built by Brunel himself but he then died before it was completed. He died at age 36, I think.

Apart from the incredible engineering and the unparallel views of the gorge, the canal and the city below, it is documented that Brunel's enthusiasm for this particular bridge was outstanding that he used to hold on to the suspension cables and cross from one side to the other to ensure that his workers were doing exactly how he envisaged the bridge to be .. to perfection.

I have my own reason for liking this bridge though, for Brunel built two unnecessary huge pillars at both ends of the bridge and those remain untouched since his death. Although very imposing indeed, they do not look particularly beautiful or of any special interest. But had Brunel lived to finish his master project, those two pillars would have now stood covered in gold with scenes of glory from ancient Egypt! In total luxury and splendour! The reason why this not done after his death was cost, of course! It's Britain!

Me, I just go stand on the bridge and imagine the ancient and modern civilisations meeting together. Imagine one pillar covered in gold, blue and green scenes, as the master intended. Maybe telling the story of the greatest builder of all; Ramses II or of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt who couldn't bear the news of the death of her soul mate Anthony. Of all the much easier methods of dying in those days, she took a snake to her bed so that she can feel the most pain ... it was her way of dealing with the unbearable pain of her passionate anguish for her soul mate, the poor girl ... Anthony wasn't even dead when she took her own life .. but then he too followed in the same way .. and the Clifton Bridge of Bristol was supposed to witness one of these stories ... imagine the majesty of this structure had it been completed the way Brunel intended?!

Do you know the story of The Blackfriars bridge in London? No Egyptians involved but amazing nonetheless ... Maybe another time, when the blogsphere is so quiet again like now ..

Oh, look, the kebab mixed grill has arrived for our little dinner at 3.30am by the Nile! The waiters bring it on your own lit coal and sizzling little arabesque brass Barbeque abnormal portions here, you know ... :-)

My papa is ordering me to switch off 'this machine' so, time to only say, I like your poem Dr Grumble, I will link to your brilliant post tomorrow .... pa, tell the waiter to prepare me a 'shisha' and a 'glass' of green tea for after dinner ... and where are those feta cheese salads, Tahini, Taboula and Homous I ordered? .. and the breads and more lime halves for the rice .. oh yes, and tell them to put my music CD on ...

You do anything you like in Cairo .... and at any time ...

They treat me like a child, you know! And now, I am being spoilt rotten ... no chance of losing those extra few lbs with them around, I tell you ... ;-)

And no, my parents do not eat at this time of the night and it is way past their bed time ... they cheated and slept for a few hours before we went out and it's a one off occasion ... I think

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

My dream brother ...

I don't have a brother but yesterday,

I dreamt ...

I was with my brother,

sitting by the shadow,

Of the olive tree.

"She troubles me", said he

"Who does?"

"My wife", he said

"But you never told me you got married, who's she?"

"The girl with the long golden hair" said he,

"But you've only ever saw her back! What is her face like? Is she pretty?'

"Here sister, her picture, for you to see "

"Oh god! What are you going to do?"

"I don't know" Said he

"Leave her", I said .. "just go"

"I can't" my brother said,
'
"I'm tied, with her golden locks to that tree, can't you see?"

And there we sat,

My dream brother and me,

Crying ...

By the olive tree ...

And the leaves kept falling ....

Then the branches ...

Then ...

Stop incompetent MMC!

"During the 2007 earthquake, Someone said on the Remedy UK forum that he wants to become a Lord! ... I smell a 'deal?'"

"Senior doctors are to be charged with monitoring complaints against junior colleagues so that dossiers demonstrating the latter's fitness to continue practising can be compiled.

The move is part of the plan devised by Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, for revalidating doctors' competence every five years. It was described as a "whistleblower's charter" when it was first floated by Donaldson, and critics said no one would want to do it."

And your 'formidable' representatives approved it!

'Sir' created Manipulating Medical Careers and he 'knows' it is only fit for the loo!

Incomptence = Incompetence

And of course no one would want to do it! ..

It's dirty business!

And why won't 'Sir' leave them kids alone?!

And, why can't anyone stop him before more and more innocent juniors suffer?

We were begining to move on ... rest our heads ... and hope for a fair future :-(

Aspire to 'Excellence' not 'Incompetence', not MMC!

Stop the grossly incompetent MMC ... the REAL no hoper!

Stop MMC ... Stop Liam Donaldson

"You need more storage space dear, the cupboard is full of skeltons, no place for the new ones ..."

You were right all along David L Cox ... I was naive :-(

Trust me, I am a doctor

"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

Well, I do. I trust doctors and mostly the reason why I trust this politician is because he is and has always been a doctor. I am not alone in trusting doctors, everybody else does, for doctors are the most trusted professionals worldwide!

But the government does not trust doctors and is sending us a message telling us we should not trust doctors either, unless the same government revalidates those doctors every five years 'for our sake'. Unless a log is kept on all the junior ones by their seniors who also are not to be trusted unless they are also periodically revalidated! Even the doctors 'formidable' representatives agree! And then, sites like this one appear, telling me to check every single doc before I use their services, then rate this service so that others may also be warned ... Then I hear rumours that information given anonymously on this site maybe used to revalidate doctors; make or break each and every one of them despite that fact that the poster maybe biased, bogus or vindictive! ...

And now that their own council will judge them on the 'balance of probability' and not on 'beyond reasonable doubt', I am beginning to wonder, what have they all done to deserve all this?!

Are you doctors soooo bad , so misleading, so untrustworthy but yet you managed to deceive us all our lives! :-(

You bunch of kniving, deceitful criminals!

Army of Drs Shipman!

Protect us innocent people from their evil!

Strike them off! ..... The lot!

But ... but ... this doesn't feel right! .. I trust the doctors much more than I trust the government and there was only ONE Dr Shipman! And this doctor up there wrongly accused and behind bars is no criminal but a man with the highest levels of honour and integrity. I would trust him with my life anytime ....

So, who are the innocent and who are the criminals now?!

It's the confusion game ...

gevernment vs doctors ...

why criminalise doctors and attempt changing public opinion in them? I havent got a clue!

Doctors, it's your turn .... rise to the challenge ....

... and how are we going to build Jerusalem if the builders, the contractors and the end users do not trust each other?!



"Anything unattempted remains impossible. Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory."

Medicine! ... Easy?!

Is it a bird?! .... Is it a plane?! ... Nooo! ... It's ROBODOC!

“He collapsed. You just forget where you are. So I started jumping on top of benches and ended up doing a mouth-to-mouth and heart massage to see if I couldn’t get him back.” After several minutes of futile attempts, Darzi called for an electric defibrillator (“I used the F-word”) ... As I was shocking him I saw the Archbishop of York doing his prayers.”




Or you can view this video here


Surely, 'Quality' medicine is NEVER easy ....








With best intentions ...

Viva Darzi

Viva Darzi

Lord Darzi's review of the NHS has embraced many of the changes suggested by John Tooke. At first sight it looks as if he has done an excellent job in supporting the changes to medical training that are now necessary. We especially welcome the support of the independent advisory nondepartmental body, Medical Education England (MEE), to be chaired by an independent doctor. This will allow the profession a strong presence to advise, feed into and scrutinise educational policy, and will ultimately take over the functions of the MMC Programme Board. We also welcome the suggestions on workforce planning, which will be overseen by universities, tariff based education funding that should ensure money is not filtered off at a local level, and the idea of 'Centres of Excellence'.

Well, if Remedy UK, the junior doctors' true voice says so, then, Amen to that :-)

Of course, the Darzi report's promise to the juniors goes much further than that, 'unlocking talent' , 'quality' ..... etc

And, Remedy's approval means that Lord Darzi has just secured the support of a 15,000+ strong army of dedicated and well seasoned young doctors, all able, aspiring to excellence and ready for the biggest dream of all ..... to build Jerusalem on British soil ....

And the boss has just launched this interactive site too ...

Busy, busy ....














Moi? Invertibrate state! ... Sleep, eat and snorkle with lots of amazing creatures ... and two turtles!
Any idea what to do when the sun cream doesn't work? ... OUCH!

Flying like a bird ....

“Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation.”

Trust is:

1- reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2- confident expectation of something; hope.

3- a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.

4- the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.

5- the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.

... all of the above is true when the trust is in a person you know well. Either because they are family, long time good friends, or those you know to have an impeccable record and reputations that is always ahead of them wherever they go .... in all cases, trust can even be blind. But, no one lives alone so, should others around them be trusted too? Trust those you don't know simply because you trust one person you know?

Where does trust begin and where does it end then?

Personally, trust always ends with the person I know ... no more ..

And, why do people you would trust even with your life leave wonderful things they know all about, for other not so wonderful things they do not know much about? ... like fish trying to breathe out of water ..... Do you still trust them then? When you know they may not know themselves?

Anyway, long flight tomorrow so, off to bed ... I do not really like flying much ... so, maybe I should consider flying lessons to overcome this unease ... you never know ... I may even become a pilot one day ... and fly like a bird ...




"Smelling isn't everything" said the Elephant. "Why," said the Bulldog, "if a fellow can't trust his nose, what is he to trust?" "Well, his brains perhaps," she replied mildly.”

Operation May*nard

May*nard - "I've been finding it really difficult to go to toilet lately doctor"

Surgeon - "hehe, Yes, you seem to have had an awful Fistula for years! hehehe .. never mind, just a little laproscopic operation and you'll be fine .... hehe ... Now, will you relax and open your mouth really wide for me? ... "

This is why I am here ...

TRAINING DOCTORS

Newly qualified medical students are being disadvantaged by the new training system

The Times

January 15, 2008

"Sir, This year will be tough for many highly qualified medical graduates who are committed to a career in their chosen specialty. These doctors are being disadvantaged in the transition to a new training system. This highly skilled group, including many clinical researchers, will find few opportunities to access the higher specialist training they require to become consultants.

We are repeatedly informed that the average competition ratio is 3:1 for all training posts. This obscures the real state of affairs for those former senior house officers (doctors less than midway through their specialist training), particularly in the competitive acute specialties, where the ratio may be as high as 20:1.

From data available to us, we believe that more than
40 per cent of UK graduate doctors seeking posts at these higher levels will be unable to access specialist training this year, because of an inadequate number of posts.

We continue to lobby health ministers to increase the number of training posts, to ensure that these good and committed doctors progress to consultant level to benefit UK patients and to reassure the public that their huge investment in these doctors has been worthwhile.

It is not too late to avert yet another debacle in the long saga of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC/MTAS), but the prospect of large numbers of UK doctors being unable to complete their training is now real.

Bernard Ribeiro
President, the Royal College of Surgeons of England

Ian Gilmore

President, Royal College of Physicians of London

Neil Douglas
President, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

Judith Hulf
President, Royal College of Anaesthetists

• Have your say

Unless British graduates are protected and given 'priority' to 'British' speciality training, like every other country in the world, expect this saga to contune forever while doctors from the whole wide world are allowed to apply! Thus, crushing the the hopes and dreams of our young doctors as well as their continuing 'aspiration to excellence' on the way! You can also kiss Britain's position as world leader in medicine and medical innovation good bye forever! End of a golden era when British medicine was considered to be 'the best in the world !' It was British doctors that did that and they can do it again!

Time the seniors handed down the heritage as they took it; world class golden standards!

STOP MMC

Sam, London, England

The crisis in doctors' training is NOT a question of "doctors have to compete for jobs just like the rest of us" nor of "stiff competition is good for patients".

Competition for specialty training position was always stiff, but the government threw out the old, preferable competition for a disastrous untested new scheme without justification. The new scheme is plain bad - it doesn't select the best docs and HMG got their sums wrong: they didn't create enough specialty training posts and allowed too many doctors from abroad to apply.

Those who don't get a post are lost to medicine in the UK because in this country, you can only work for the NHS. Doctors can't set up shop under their own name, nor are there private hospitals to work for (BUPA only takes senior docs). So we are left with HMG spending 250k to train someone to doctor in the NHS

and then not having work for them to do. A different matter from the rest of the labour market and one that merits special consideration.

Ben Kotzee, Hitchin, Herts,

I also welcome this letter. However I believe even their concerns are an understatement of the scale of the problems. In Scotland there are, in addition to research fellows, a large number of Doctors in "Fixed Term Training Posts." These people were often ineligible, because they were overqualified, for ST2 posts last year. They are now being told they cannot compete with current ST2 trainees for entry into Specialist Training Posts. This is clearly unfair but worse, means that Specialist Training Posts will be filled with doctors who could not have been appointed if there were open competition. Much of the focus on last year's fiasco was on the mechanism of appointment (MTAS) but it is now clear that the structure of the new training scheme is wrong and the rules for implementing it are being imposed without regard to the quality of the service that junior doctors train in and for.

Dr Neal Padmanabhan, Glasgow, UK

This letter now proves what a complete and utter nonsense it was to continue with a process last year that was half baked and poorly implemented. These are the consequeces forseen last year and opposed by thousands in the junior ranks.

Too little, and for me and thousands of others, too late.

Dr Matthew Daniels, Cambridge,

I am delighted to finally see a letter like this from 3 of the Royal Colleges.
This was the statement we need a year or even two years ago from our clinical leaders - certainly we needed it by the time of the RemedyUK march on March 17th 2006 - then the interviews could have been boycotted and the profession could have brought MMC down, and retained the values of professional expert flexible training.
Now we are at grave risk that the Tooke Review recommendations will not be taken up, and those in power in the DH and MMC allowed to continue to hold power, holding to their beliefs - like the belief in the value of written answers to "White Space" questions, which still litter this year's applications forms.
Young Professionals need to be able to shape their careers and find innovative ways forward - MMC is too rigid, and is as the Presidents say cutting out a way ahead for many Juniors.
Many of our best have left, many will follow, disillusioned by the NHS as an Employer

Dr Gordon Caldwell, Worthing, West Sussex

I think the whole situation is Terrific, It has passed the point of any possible correction, The whole health system is going down hill

A MORGAN, LONDON, UK

At last some sense from senior members of the profession! Itis long overdue!

Increase in the number of junior doctors' training places is clearly needed immediately if we are not to lose many more UK educated doctors to the colonies this year.

Gordon Caldwell's excellent point, that those in power in the DoH and MMC remain in place, illustrates the further and difficult problem - how can we hope to put in sensible reform while incompetent buffoons with axes to grind about their beliefs in a clearly failed system are in position to continue to adversely affect the training system?

They need removal in order to assure the victims of MMC last year that Tooke's reforms will be adequately applied.

David L. Cox, Loggerheads,

Why didn't these luminaries not speak out about this situation several years ago.

Happy to hear them do it now, but its too little to late for thousands of us.

The colleges along with the BMA have let their profession down shamelessly.

P45 Dr, Edinburgh, Scotland

Please note - the title of your piece is incorrect - medical students are not being immediately affected by these changes. The changes affect the continued education and training of QUALIFIED doctors who are currently running the more junior end of the NHS. Medical students receive 5-6 yrs' undergraduate training, then graduate and work for another 2 yrs before having to enter the process we are all talking about. Many doctors affected have been practicing for up to 6-8 years. They are not

medical students.

A Doctor, Portsmouth, UK"

Any News?

What happened to those young doctors so far?

Thank you for reminding me David, I'm just exhausted, that's all ...

Webchat ... s?

Read the webchat
Was that a one off?

Tabasco sauce ...

"I tell you, politics is like Tabasco sauce"

A mother of four children, three of whom are medics, I started blogging in March 2007 to Scream after the MTAS earthquake and the resulting electric jolt everybody involved endured .. and us families. MTAS also felt as if someone forced all of us to gulp a whole big bottle of Tabasco at one go and did that everyday since the whole saga started and to this day ... For many, including myself, the resulting fire does not want to subside ... Blogging has been therapeutic, I must admit ...

That said, it was never my ambition or intention to be a popular 'medical' blogger, what do I know anyway?! Instead, my only hope was to depict the dire picture at grass roots and hope, just hope, that someone, one person up there will come here then do something to fix and heal. Anything at all ... that's how desperate we were ..

When I started, I had no idea about medical politics at all, I am still a very basic beginner but I am now hooked, not only because the stakes are so high for my medic children and therefore, myself, but because medicine has always been the passion I was never able to fulfill and so, it is important for me too to lift this great profession from it's current position on it's knees and see it held again at the high regard it deserves.

My first teacher in medical politics was Dr Grumble, whom I even imitated when I started this blog, a decent, intelligent, compassionate and articulate doctor whom I would trust with my life anytime. I then found the Witch Doctor and was very impressed with their passion, compassion and pride in medicine as well as their 'unique' abilities to form opinions based on none relenting desire to understand based on own research and then inform same to others too. Then I discovered the talented and communication expert Dr Crippen, Dr revolutionary Rant, the out spoken Ferret Fancier, the pleasant junior doctor and the well natured, now new doc, The little Medic, followed lately by the ever so nice Jobbing Doctor. I now can not pass a day without finding out what they have to say and do so many times during the day ... and night :-)

Amazing and very special people ... and they accepted me amongst them! What honour and such a pleasure ...

Since the MTAS Volcano erupted, we have been watching as reviews and responses have been commissioned and conducted, some raising our hopes only to crash once again as the ones we approve of and like face opposition and get shelved. We all had our spirit lifted when the Tooke review came out because it was a breath of fresh air ... hope in an otherwise very desperate situation. It was also genuine, fair, solved problems and above all, done so with love, appreciation and respect from a great teacher whom we all appreciate, trust and respect. We trusted Sir Tooke and still trust him and have been fighting for his recommendations to be implemented since but, any luck?! NO

While all this was going on, last June, Gordon Brown decided to appoint a practicing doctor to look at the NHS and help fix it. Good idea! At last, one of you, a doctor in a high government office! Not just any doctor either, but one who we know to be an honest intelligent person and an innovator who gets things done! Robodoc himself, no less! Surely, this is good news for all doctors and the medical profession who has been suffering one blow after the other for the past god knows how long and at the hands of every no one who wants to have a go?! Everything has been happening and is still happening to medicine! You were even attacked in your integrity and your honour! But, did you or your so called 'formidable' representatives fight back?! .. Very few individuals 'tried' ... they were PATHETIC!

Well, we now have Darzi in office and he is trying to do something to unite his profession and people and pick them up again. If indeed he, or an assigned member of his staff, visit the very few medics as well as the one parent on the net to get the feel at grass roots, then I commend him for that. Indeed, wasn't this my very aim when I started this site? .. now I got lucky! Nearly 2 years on, at last my voice is being heard.

He then tries all he can to communicate at all levels, including his own blog. Sometimes through more innovative ways, as habitual, and again I get lucky .. when I was able to interpret the message, to some extend because I think there is much more. I then hid the relevant posts again because I was not sure if it were appropriate to speak with such ease on the open internet to someone of his standing and whom I do admire but have never actually knew or met. Now, those posts are back again because you do speak at ease with your teachers, especially those who do care and he does. So, lots of respect.

Now, here is my prescription for all of you healers out there, this man is trying to help. He wants to communicate and he is trying every which way he can to do so, although this last attempt was not publicized before it was launched, hence, maybe low response.

You have an opportunity here docs, take it, unite and rally behind 'your' man and help him heal you and the honour to your worthy of respect and honour profession. He has the support of Tooke and many others that you respect too. He said himself that he is not a politician but a doctor first and foremost. That by no means make him an 'idiot' and we all know he is not. He has given you many channels to communicate so use them. Discuss your views, your fears, opinions and open his eyes to the type of politics you want him to know. I am sure he won't let you down, he can not do. After all, he has put his own outstanding reputation on the line here.

Take a spoonful of 'Tabasco!' Ignite your 'passion' for your profession and what great work you do, as well as open your eyes to the opportunity in front of you, so that you can unite, restore your dignity and take this great profession higher and higher and higher again ...


Now, mum is off to have a wonderful holiday and to attempt to really relax for the first time in nearly two years ...

Time to unwind ... with my laptop, because mum is now an incurable addict ;-)

Respect



"The Tabasco sauce of a happy ending .."

Jungle Book

- "I wish I was sixteen and know what I know now!"


- "But you are and you do ... and so am I ...."