In my 'expert' opinion .. :)

The previous picture ... I honestly had no idea!

“Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones - the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically”

I'm not a doctor but sometimes I think that applying logic to medical situations can keep the doctors away ... And you don't really need a medical degree to do this .. any one can do it ... Take this example ..

A friend was complaining that a person she really likes is always restless .. always banging with his hands on tables, desks and chairs and the like and forever really, really impatient he cannot sit in one place for more than a few minutes! Of course, as all of you doctors would know, this is a classic condition of 'hyperactivity' in adulthood IMVHO. But, unlike what psychiatrists and phsycologists may suggest by way of treatment, ie tranquilisers and stuff, which do, of course, have terrible side effects as well as only provide temporary relief but never a real cure. My opinion is that patients with such symptoms are just bored ... Because they are just not challenged enough. And so, this boredom, which is due to lack of stimulae presents itself in these classic symptoms. So, the solution is not a daily tripple doze of intravenous Valliam or the placebo effect of the milder Prozac because these won't help. The best way IMV'EXPERT'O is to provide those patients with the 'missing' stimulae ...

Stimulation can take many shapes and forms as you already know .. However, its composition depends on the individual patient and also on the person/s who will be in charge of providing this stimulae. So, to give but an example to my friend, I said to her that I personally would arm myself with a small, but sharp, pair of scissors and wait by this man's place of work till he arrives .. then, using an element of surprise, which NEVER fails, just lunge at him, cut off his tie near the knot, stand up his shirt collar and mess up his impeccable hair then give him a small peck on the cheek, a smile and a wink ... and run for dear life before getting arrested for assault! :-O

IMO, this is enough stimulae to keep him quiet for the day ...

But of course there are serious limitations to this method. One being that she would not get away with this more than a few, far in between, times and may end up in trouble herself .. plus the fact that this 'gimmick' will lose it's element of surprise and, therefore, it's remedial effect, after a few attempts anyway .....

A better solution is to provide a real and continuing challenge ... like maybe hiring a personal trainer/com assistant who would, with his knowledge and consent, forever attempt to 'Beat him up' ... unexpectedly ... and always ..... no rules, any place ... anytime ..... Of course this method does cure restlessness .. given that he will be on the defence at all times .. and hence, always challenged! ... very theraputic ...

Nothing 'beats' this type of stimulation ... Or is it?!


[video removed, link here]

And yes, it's a bit savage, blood, bruises and broken bones and all that, which won't look good in public ... but it does work .... every time ... :)

That said, I'm sure she can always innovate, now that I gave her a few examples. I'm sure she will be suprised to find at least 1001 ways to make him as placid and as calm and collected as the chair he's sitting on ... and providing there is a bit of quality added in for bonus ... he'll always have a smile on his face too ...

I think my friend now understands that restless people do thrive on a challenge ...

.. and that's 'quality' medicine folk .... without even a doctor ... and it isn't easy .. at all

Let's all wish him well ... and hope he gets better ... soon :)


“When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view.”

A true leader ..

The manly man

The world has room for a manly man,

With the spirit of a manly cheer,

The world delights in the man who smiles,

When his eyes keep back the tears;

It loves the man who, when things are wrong,

Can take his place and stand

With his face to the fight,

And his eyes to the light,

And toil with a willing hand

The manly man is a country's need,

The moments need, forsooth,

With a heart that beats to the pulsing troops,

Of the lilied leagues of truth

The world is his and waits for him,

And it leaps to bear the ring,

Of the blow he strikes and the wheels he turns,

And hammers he dares to swing

It likes the forward look on his face,

The poise of his noble head,

And the onward lunge of his tireless will,

And the sweep of his dauntless tread!

Hurrah for a manly man who comes,

With sunlight on his face,

And the strength to do and will to dare,

And courage to find his place!

The world delights in a manly man,

And the weak and evil flee

When a manly man goes forth

To hold his own on land or sea

Value for money?

“The only problem with the speed of light, is it gets here too early in the morning”

£550m set aside to fund Darzi

"The Department of Health has set aside £150m from next year's NHS budget and £400m in 2010-11 to pay for the commitments set out in health minister Lord Darzi's review.

The details of the costs were revealed in response to a parliamentary question on the day MPs rose for recess.

Health minister Ann Keen said: "All the commitments are affordable within this overall total, though precise funding for individual initiatives is still subject to further detailed planning work on implementation."

Assessments currently show the DH expecting the reforms in primary care to cost £78m a year, and changes to workforce planning and training to cost £72m and faster access to new drugs to cost £100m a year. NHS chief executive David Nicholson has said that a new strategic health authority innovation fund will be worth £150m a year."

"The health minister confirmed to the health select committee that changes under the next stage review would be funded out of the £110bn NHS budget. "It is costed within the system... some proposals in the enabling report are also costed as part of that package," he said."

Worth the money if you consider that this means around 7 pounds per head of population, right?


Darzi drives doctors to scale the dizzy heights

"Leadership has been the neglected element of the reforms of recent years. That must now change."

Lord Darzi's battle cry for leadership - in particular clinical leadership - to drive improved quality of services in the NHS is likely to strike a chord .......

....... there are a few references to nurses but far more about doctors - and virtually nothing about the myriad other professions that contribute to care or to the non-professional roles where there will still be a need for inspirational and committed leaders .......

....... Doctors get leadership embedded in their undergraduate and postgraduate training, and more closely linked to their clinical excellence awards. Institute of Healthcare Management chair Andrew Corbett-Nolan says: "I suspect what Lord Darzi means is not bringing in more clinicians [into management] but bringing in more doctors"


"If Lord Darzi manages to pull more doctors into leadership roles he will have overturned a history of doctors feeling that some of these roles are not high status, are too risky for them to take on and that they are inferior to top academic or clinical appointments."

I hear that the London deanery has already started leadership training courses (Even before Darzi's review came out!) for middle grade doctors this last February (?). Places were hugely over subscribed and out of over 150 candidates, 20 only were successful! This scheme is currently run only in London ... I hear doctors in other parts of the country think this is unfair :) .... so much for being 'inferior'? I think it is a brilliant idea; doctors as leaders :)

... and, if everything is happening only in London, shouldn't everybody be allowed an opportunity equal to those who are in London as a result of the MTAS lottery and not a proven to be fair selection method? And, shouldn't the Londoners who were exiled by MTAS be allowed to return HOME!

But, one must say ....

Very impressive Minister ... Keep up the hard work :)


“It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off.”

(Innovative taxi ... Jakarta ... :)

Modernising British Politics

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat”

It seems that someone somewhere advised different government departments that having a presence on mediums like Youtube is the empetimy of modernisation. So, now everybody is on youtube! Different government departments racing to 'modernise' with new ones arriving on the scene even as we speak! Everybody is adding little clips of between 2 to 6 minutes, Some are informative but the majority are clips of politicians parading themselves like peacocks in season and nothing more. Ego boosters conducted at god only knows how much, all paid from the public purse at the tax payers' expence! The majority of those clips would be lucky if they can manage to even attract 100 audience in all! However, it seems that the current thinking amongst those 'up there' is that if s/he has a presence on youtube, then this is proof enough that they are modernising! Substance, value for money and of content? ... Oh, forget about that ...

And now that latest craze in the fashion of goverment modernisation, a 'blog'. Those too are spreading everywhere now. Of course blogs are potentially a wonderful idea to remove barriers between us ordinary folks and those with the power to pull our strings but, are the current blogs fit for purpose; to remove the current 'them' and 'us' barriers?

Oh, no ... because you can comment on the topics but ... you'll get no reply! Never! They are 'come and tell us what you think' blogs but that's it. How do you know if anyone even bothers to read the comments posted? Since those blogs are one sided and not inteactive like the blogs belonging to ordinary people like us. IMO, this type of blogging stresses the 'them' and 'us' barriers that we nead to remove in the first place and not the other way round. Of course, politicians have other work to do but wouldn't it be nice if they at least picked a comment or two and commented on them? :)

It is only when politicians start 'mingling' with us ordinary people that British politics will be seen to be making a 'real' effort towards modernisation IMO. Thus far, the only politician who did and is still doing that is the Health Minister Lord Darzi . First through his own blog, then his innovative messages contained in his Desert Island Disks appearance, then, through either his personal presence (?) or his assigned staff roaming the blogsphere to get a clear picture of what us odinary people think and say and Sometimes even participating in the debate. It doesn't stop at that, for the minister is accustomed to working at the speed of light to affect positive change ... incorporating the views and ideas he and his staff gathered on the blogsphere from ordinary people like you and me.

Why don't other politicians and MPs take up this new idea too? Come down and talk to us folk! Proper. Let's really debate problems and find good solutions for them. Surely, in this modern day and modern age it is a good idea to Mingle!

It's good to talk ... Always

All join together to make a nation of problem solvers and get problems debated and solutions found before they take hold and cause avoidable harm.

And, it is time and cost effective too ... Think about it :)

let's try and remove that 'them' and 'us' culture and unite in one big family that can work effeciently and effectively to raise all standards for everybody in Britain ...

Let's modernise British politics for the betterment of our society.

Let's be the first in the world to innovate in politics and political communication with the masses

Let modernised British politics be an example to the whole world ...

Let it open a new page in the history books ....

One that says ... The Brits were here first ... as usual

Let's work together and change the world not just Britain.


“Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress”

Be flexible! ... how?

“It gets late early out there.”

Yes, doctors are very patient, patient people ... and VERY poor too! ... specially the youngest ones .. :(

With Lord Darzi's promise of a better application process starting from 2009 and for clear criteria and improved person specs as well. And, since some specialties are core training while others are run through and, since each college is very protective of its own traditions when selecting candidates:

What part 1 college exam should, say, an F2 doctor take in order to give themselves that edge against the fierce competition? ... and be flexible at the same time just in case they need to change specialty?

Would that be part 1 of:

1- The RCOP?
2- The RCOS?
3- The RCOGP
4- The RCOG
5- The RCOphth

.... etc ?

What if you only do one exam but do not get a place, say, in core training and need to apply to say, Obs & Gynae ... and GP to maximise your opportunities? How attractive would you be to those other colleges if you only have part 1 of the RCOP and are applying to Obs & G? How do you prove you're committed to the specialty?!

With Flexibility encouraged, is there such a thing as a commitment to a specialty anymore?

Does this mean a young doctor must take 2 or 3 exams out of the above? Say RCOP plus RCOG? ... and RCOGP just in case? Just to be on the safe side and prove commitment, if that is still required in the new specs?

How about the time involved and the cost? Especially that many F2 Rotations are now unbanded! We're talking thousands of pounds here!

Not forgetting that those poor docs need to pay back some of their huge debt too!

I think some guidance re the new selection criteria as well as the person specs should be issued now to those applying early next year in 2009. Before they pay and embark on doing some/all of those exams .... only to find that the rules have completely changed again and that all their effort as well as very hard earned cash, have gone to waste!

Hopefully someone will act now, if only to ensure 2009 runs smoothly .. not only for sake of the F2s, but for the sake of all the juniors applying in 2009 as well as the admin of same ...


“There is nothing that can be changed more completely than human nature when the job is taken in hand early enough.”

MMC ... a useless Gadget!

The 'inventor' of MMC has been reported to the GMC.

"Strike off Sir Liam say docs"

"Furious medics want the country's top doctor Sir Liam Donaldson STRUCK OFF.
More than 1,400 doctors think Sir Liam, the Government's chief medical officer, should face charges of bringing his profession into disrepute.

They blame him for last year's promotions fiasco that left 12,000 junior doctors jobless. And they are making formal complaints to the General Medical Council.
The action is co-ordinated by Remedy UK, the doctors' association.
Remedy 's Dr Richard Marks said: "We can't have doctors making a mess of things and just walking away.
If I did that in the operating theatre I would be struck off

Liam Donaldson and those around him should answer for what they did."
An online recruiting system was abandoned after it failed to cope with a rush of doctors applying. The GMC said: "We don't comment on complaints."

.... and while you are at it, strike off this useless 'invention' too ...

That brain dead MMC Gadget!

Forward Remedy UK -------> Always :)

Who I am? .. who I am? .. who I am? ...

“Committing yourself is a way of finding out who you are. A man finds his identity by identifying. A man's identity is not best thought of as the way in which he is separated from his fellows but the way in which he is united with them.”

HSC on The Next Stage Review

I just found this! I had no idea there was going to be any enquiry! I would have thought that such an event would be advertised on the 'Our NHS our future' site but it isn't!

Still, better late than never :)

1 - Video: The Health Select Committee enquiry into The Next Stage Review

2-UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE 10 July 2008

3-UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE 17 July 2008

4- BMA and others ... Full list

I can't download the video because I'm still abroad in my parents house, who are resistant to the internet and I am picking up a really slow internet signal through my wireless laptop ... and it cuts off all the time! I wish I knew who owns the connection because s/he does need an upgrade!

Meanwhile, I shall have to make do with the transcript only to see what The Health Minister said about doctors' training ... I suppose I will just read the whole document :)

There is no longer a video for the first meeting because it was on 10 July 2008 and the videos are for public viewing only for on month!This the second meeting started on Thursday 17 July at 10amended at 12.29pm ..... Video remains until 17 August 2008

NHS Next Stage Review
Witnesses (Second session Video)

1. Professor Lord Darzi of Denham KBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health, David Nicholson, Chief Executive, NHS, and Dr Jonathan Sheffield, Medical Director, NHS South West

The first session was onThursday 10 July and attended by:

Professor Steve Field, Chairman, Royal College of
General Practitioners,
Professor Nick Mays, London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, and
David Pruce, Director of Policy and Communications,
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain;
Professor Adrian Newland, Vice‐Chairman, Academy of
Medical Royal Colleges,
Niall Dickson, Chief Executive, King’s Fund, and
Nigel Edwards, Director of Policy, NHS Confederation

TAXI .....

“Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.”

Qualified GPs forced to drive taxis due to lack of work as doctors

"Thousands of junior GPs are being forced to take menial second jobs to make ends meet because 'greedy' senior partners are not offering them full time posts"

I really think this is disgraceful! Fully qualified young doctors, who have already spent 9-10 or even 11 years of their life in medicine only to be forced to take menial jobs at the end so that they can eat?!

Of course one hopes that the majority of GPs are good and I have a very good GP now. But I was with another GP before, he worked in his own practice with one partner, his wife, who was also a GP. Although he was good, his wife was not up to standard to say the least ... she even 'bonked' appointments and he stepped in to cover her back whenever was possible resulting in a much longer wait ... or appointments were just rearranged last minute. So, I changed GPs a few years ago, to a much better and more modern practice with 4 GPs and I do get to see the doctor I am registered with ... I like the idea of having my own 'named' GP even though I hardly visit anyway but you never know what the future holds.

I have nothing against my old GP, although IMO, his wife was not as she should be, given that she is a 'qaualified' GP. And, had there been more GPs in that practice, patients would not have been messed about last minute as other GPs would share the load when one is absent. And, of course, this 'family business' would never provide the opportunity of a partnership to a newly qualified GP and there must be many practices with similar setups everywhere. Hence, the problem of fully qualified doctors driving taxis because of the lack of opportunity.

And, I can not understand why the threat of polyclinics may make some GPs hold on to their surgeries and not offer partnerships. Especially that the polyclincic threat has only been around for only a few months, while it seems the jobless new GP problem has much deeper roots. Then again, even with the threat posed by polyclinics, partnerships can still be offered, if only for the sake of avoiding the threat to single handed surgeries or family businesses lik the one above .. and since this is a business endeavour for all partners, you either swim together or sink together ... Isn't it a more shrewd move when faced with a real threat, to have more partners to share the losses with? ... So, I don't believe this polyclinic threat excuse.

There has been many media articles attacking GPs and I defended them in my previous posts when I thought the accusations re their integrity were not justified .. and I would still say the same again .. But this case is different, it is about 'some' senior GPs who are actually greedy, they are not allowing the juniors to get on the first step of the ladder by refusing to take on new partners. Instead, they offer minimal part time employment with working conditions much like McDonalds ... Then everybody shouts "blame the government" .. as usual! Afterall, governments are there to be blamed for everything ... but never the people involved! Well, I do not think so this time.

This is not right, neither for the patients nor for the young jobless GPs concerned or indeed, for the public purse that spends millions and millions training those new GPs only to drive taxis at the end thus depriving needy people of their expertise ... Also specially because GP numbers already in training have increased dramatically since the new GP contract making GP training the most popular. Where are all the resulting GPs going to go in future?! How many taxis can the roads take!

I can't figure out why good GP practices are afraid, given Darzi's promise that 'good' practices will not be harmed?! Why the resistant to reform that intends to just pluck the rotten apples and leave the tree healthier? Then again, many GPs on the net say that they have just offered or will be offering partnership opportunitis to newly qualified GPs ... If those seniors are representative of the whole, then, where are all those partnerships and why are the young GPs driving taxis for a living?! Why the humiliating part time jobs, if even found?

Surely, if McDonalds style employment is the way it is going to be for those newly qualified GPs under the current conditions, then reform is indeed needed, even with the involvement of the private sector. Afterall, who would you prefer to work for if you are a newly qualified GP? Part time in a McDonalds style job, or full time with good job prospects at Virgin's.

Why doesn't someone ask the new GPs?

“Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic”

She watches over her children like a hawk!

"A rebel is the one who stands up and says NO! ... There is no such thing as a silent rebel "

This is probably the most cheriched compliment of my whole life. It was said by the English teacher of my eldest son when he was around 14 years old, in year 9. The teacher himself never said it to me, but it was the Geography teacher who said he did. The English teacher had complained that my son's handwriting was not perfect and I promised him it would improve. He was then surprised to see a big difference in only one month. Although the first time he complained, my initial reply was; "have you ever seen a doctor with good handwriting?!" .. ;)

All my children stayed at the same school and only moved else where for their A levels. I was known to everyone in that school because I never failed to attend anything; parent evenings, school parties, meetings ... anything and everything. I also made appointments with the head or any of the teachers whenever I needed to discuss a child's progress or the school policy sometimes. I had a good relationship with everybody, but everybody also knew what I was after ... and it was mutual cooperation and respect .. although not as smoothe a ride all the time as I may make you believe here. Of course, three of my children were top of that school most of the years and always when it was a national exam ... and took prizes. The youngest is doing really well too, so .. no complaints :)

The headmaster, as well as 'the majority' of the teachers did appreciate my non-relenting endeavour for excellence for my own children as well as the rest of the kids ... I used to volunteer to teach exam and study skills nearer the times of the exams. I also spoke for other children as well as other parents whenever they wanted me to. I hope made a positive difference to the children as well as that school sometimes ... we do stop and talk and they do smile whenever I meet any of them by chance :)

I stopped watching over the kids as soon as they went to university because I wanted them to fend for themselves. Unexpectedly and for the first time since my eldest started university, I had to get involved again because of the MTAS disaster and the absolute horror and disbelief things where happening the way they did. I got involved, not only for the sake of my own son, although this of course was my most urgent concern, but also because a whole generation of bright young people were under great threat, helpless and desperate ... one can not not fight this injustice!

I'll skip the very long story and the 2007 ordeal and the none ending saga that followed because this blogs tells it all in detail. That said, I am letting go of my children's future again now that I very much trust the juniors are now in good hands. For a while, I thought there was no longer a need for my presence on the blogsphere and on many occasions I was going to close this blog and just keep it for my own memories or return again if I ever needed to. And although I would have never considered deleting this blog, I did when I recieved an e-mail telling me that I was considered 'spam' ... This really hurt and I just pressed that button and it was just gone! In a second! I was really saddened about this but 2 days later, I got lucky when blogger found out they had made a mistake .. and this blog returned ... safe and sound ... and I was over the moon :)

I am not the afraid type. Never have been ... I can't afford to be with four children and when I insisted on raising them to the best of my ability. I therefore believe that many things in life are much more important than fearing anything at all . To me, the welfare of this whole young generation is paramount, it is one such duty that fear can not conquer.

This far, I have spoken at the top of my voice and stated my opinion in any which way I could, not forgetting my limitations of course ... but I tried. All done to bring about justice for the juniors.

Did I help just a little? I sincerely hope so.

But as well as calling for a solution to the MMC/MTAS/Jobs mess, I also always pleaded with the seniors to hand down the heritage as they took it; World Class Golden Standards.

I now feel this will be the case too.

Since I started blogging, I became a fan of some seniors that I greatly appreciate and respect ... to the point that I sometimes held my own opinion when it was different from theirs. But I still have the juniors future prosperity at heart and so, I have decided not to leave yet because there are still things to be said. I will freely voice my opinion on some the issues that I believe will affect the future of our juniors ...

In my pursuit of justice, I will always speak my mind ...

I will always watch over the young ones like a hawk ...

Because they are the future and it is our duty to hand them down the torch shining bright.

Above all else ... I am a 'professional' mother ...


“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations.”

Suspended!

"A Cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter."

Is that all that poor lad said then ... 'sh**'?!

His WHOLE future is being messed up because of that???!!!!

And, how did this work ?!

I am a dean of one college who seas another top educational official, that I happen to know, being called names by one pupil who is actually in another college ... I then feel 'enraged!' ... so, instead of calling the top official concerned and tell them what 'enraged' me on their behalf .. so that they can take action, if they wish, themselves, .... I take the matter into my own hands, phone my other dean colleague, explain why I am 'enraged' and the dean colleague agrees that I have every right to be 'enraged' and gets 'enraged' himself! They 'both?' then decide that this was an enraging and unforgivable offence and suspends the pupil!

Off with his head! ...

Meanwhile ... and while this 'enragement' party is in full swing .... that top official is maybe sitting at home sipping a cup of tea and playing with the cat!

Where are we?!

Hooloholooo, the land of Cannibal?!

Can this senario happen anywhere else?!

How 'legal' is this?!

Does The BMA have an opinion?

And, why is the official concerned so silent?!

Amazing, isn't it?! I wish they had formed such a formidable team when the MTAS Hurricane was blowing everyone in it's way to smetherines! But, ... the ONLY time they actually 'team up' is when they decide to go on what looks like a witch hunt!

Was this another 'gentleman agreement?' This time for 'inter-deanery' affairs?

How can we trust our sons and daughters in 'their' hands inside those deaneries?!

Seriously! ... Why aren't anybody introducing 'competition' to those 'people?!' ...

They're getting too 'comfy' in those chairs!

... and ... I dread to think of what will become of Dr Rant if 'the ladies' get to catch him!

;-O


“The natives are superficially agreeable, but they go in for cannibalism, headhunting, infanticide and biting lice in half with their teeth”

Crazy?

The blogsphere has gone crazy!

Things are happening ... out of character ... Why?!

It must be the sun ...

Dear Hacker!

I have no idea why someone would want to target me! It is now very difficult for me to control how I use blogger. Fonts go funny, parts of what I write gets deleted or copied again, files disappear to reappear again and it sometimes takes me ages to log in/out of my account! I have had similar encounters before and on one occasion, harmful programmes ruined my PC. I have tried to reason with my hacker and have asked them 'very nicely' to leave me alone but to no avail, they just now pressed the publish button when I had no intention of publishing a previous post, but was merely trying to reason with them!! A post that was only intended for them, which I have now deleted! ... and, I hope they don't ruin my computer again!

Dear hacker,

Please go! It's not funny!


Thank you!

Does anyone have any idea what to do? :(

Quality in Academia ...

“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

Dare pursue an academic career in medicine in the UK?

Well, apparantly not. Not many doctors do anymore and posts that would have previously attracted top candidates remain unfilled. No wonder since the majority of those returning from research were amongst the first to be discarded by MTAS in 2007. It is also no surprise since the number of academic jobs are so low and the pay is but a joke.

Since Professor Lord Darzi is an academic himself, a major feature of his review is 'quality' and the 'unlocking of talent' to ensure same. His review, therefore, reaffirmed the importance of Academic Health Science Centres as a central plank of NHS reform and the green light was given for the establishment of Europe's Largest Academic Health Science Partnership to be created in London.

Excellent! But then, what about the rest of the country?

Bearing in mind that MTAS was not able to select the best candidates, many able academics were exiled to other parts of the country where academic opportunities are not the same as would be provided by that centre of excellence in London.

I personally know of some young academics who would have excelled in such new centres of excellence, but are now stuck in posts that does not provide opportunity for them to show their potential. In one case, the young doctor's professor does not publish much research themself and so, for the whole of last year, this junior had nothing published too, which is really unfair since it is always the teacher that inspires and encourages. Of those who do have research published, one would question the 'quality' of that research; wheather the subject was done to death before and is being republished with minimal alterations 'a cliche', hence, is of little value either to the advancement of medicine or indeed, the researchers themselves, or, the topic at hand is an innovative idea that would push the young academs to their limit and show their true potential.

So, academia varies greatly from one centre to the other and from one part of Britain to the other too and a lot depends on which centre/professor a junior ends up working with and the resulting quality of work. The problem also means that if a young academic is stuck with such unpromising posts, they will probably never be able to prove their potential and abilities or join centres of excellence like that one above! And would probably face unemployment at the end since competition for academic progression posts is so fierce ...

See, there no end to the harm MMC and MTAS did/can do! What injustice and what waste of talent!

I hope that with the establishment of MEE, this unfair variation in quality in academic opportunities and the quality of teaching will be addresed. Perhaps, a uniform academic syllabus/minimum quality standards or something similar. If only to enure equality of opportunity to 'unlock' the talents of our young academics and provide 'quality' supervision and teaching which will then lead to the provision of quality care.

But, what about those high caliber academics currently stuck in unpromising posts?! Those will probably decide to leave academia at the end ....

What a great shame for young aspiring academics to let go of their passion and their dream because of the lack of opportunity to prove their talent!

This reminds me of those who liked MTAS saying in 2007 that "Some parts of the country were seeing high cliber doctors they have never seen before."

Sure! ... and those are the 'trapped' ones!

Is there an end to the ripple effect harm done by MTAS?

Unlock ALL talent! Insist on academic 'equality' as well as 'quality' ... for all the young academics working all over Britain ... not just in London.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

No Dominion ...

And death shall have no dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

Dylan Thomas

I am from Great Britain

“This island is almost made of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish in Great Britain at the same time.” Aneurin Bevan

We are a lucky people. We live on a beautiful green island, surrounded by seas and oceans and protected by cliffs and the love and dedication of it's people. Great land and great people.

No one can do things as well as we do. We started the industrial revolution, built the greatest ships, travelled to the remotest of lands, invented the most useful, and the most useless of gadgets ... innovated and excelled in medicine and educated the world!... The list goes on .. and on .. and on.

We do everything ... to perfection!

We ARE the best! We do things as best as we can, with conviction! .. Always! Even when we mess up ... we do that to the best of our abilities too ... and on the grandest of scales .. as habitual! ... until it becomes the talk of the whole wide world!

We NEVER fail to surprise!

No one can suggest to us what to do ... because they wouldn't have a clue.

We made it .. and if we can't fix it, rest assured, no one else can! ... That's how intense we are! ... and the world can but sit and watch in awe!

This country Is indeed great .. and we are some of the cleverest people on Earth.

We are human and we do make mistakes but we can and we will fix it. We will lay brain dead failures to rest .. we won't shy away from our duty to our children .. to our great land ... then we will move on ... to strive to cherish and protect Great Britain, our beautiful land and help it to prosper.

Do the right thing ... Stop attempting to revive the dead ... lay MMC, the brain dead failure to rest!

Revive GREAT BRITAIN, the greatest nation on Earth .. and this will help us overcome our weaknesses and our failures!

When they ask me, I say I am from:

GREAT BRITAIN .... and very proud!

Because we are the greatest nation on Earth.


“There be many Caesars

Ere such another Julius. Britain is

A world by itself, and we will nothing pay

For wearing our own noses.”

William Shakespeare



Song dedicated to the 'brains' behind MMC and MTAS

A mistake! ... Then ... a miracle!

"Of all the weird and the wonderful!"

"Fridays
01 August 2008 — permalink
While we wish that every post on this blog could be about cool features or other Blogger news, sometimes we have to step in and admit a mistake.We've noticed that a number of users have had their blogs mistakenly marked as spam, and wanted to sound off real quick to let you know that, despite it being Friday afternoon,The latest from Blogger Buzz
Spam we are working hard to sort this out. So to those folks who have received an email saying that your blog has been classified as spam and can't post right now, we offer our sincere apologies for the trouble.We hope to have this resolved shortly, and appreciate your patience as we work through the kinks. "

Speaks for itself! Don't it? But what it doesn't say, is that when I got the spam thing and could not access my blog, I thought it best to have some dignity, then I pushed the delete blog button and this blog was deleted ...

Only to comeback on it's own today! .... as if by Magic!

.. and I was in the process of deleting this whole google account! .... and would have finished it today!

As far as I know ... There is no way to retrieve a whole blog once deleted! ... and I've never even tried! ... I wouldn't know how!

Well, thank you blogspot! ... :)


Believe in magic ... and magic will happen!

:D


Did you know that Dalida, the French singer, was originally from Egypt? :)
She's sining "Safely, safely, we went ... and came back .. safely!"

Video here